Difference between revisions of "Colony Building Guide"

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This guide is the ultimate go-to guide to building your base, for all stages of the game.
 
This guide is the ultimate go-to guide to building your base, for all stages of the game.
  
 
== Base Types ==
 
== Base Types ==
  
−
There are different ways to build your base. In all different designs one can opt to either predefine each room role or make modular rooms which are easier to expand but also less efficient.
+
There are different ways to build your base.
  
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
−
|+ Bases
+
! X
−
! Type
+
! Superstructure base
−
! Superstructure base || Separate structures base || Mountain base
+
! Town-like settlement
 +
! Mountain base
 
|-
 
|-
 
! Description
 
! Description
−
| Everything or almost everything is in one large building rather than smaller separate parts. This is a common method to build bases.  
+
| To build a superstructure base, put everything in 1 large building rather than separate it into multiple small parts.
−
|| Build everything in separated buildings, just like building a small town. It is easier for starting off.  
+
 
−
|| For mountainous maps where you have less space to build, you can opt to dig inside the mountains instead. Also very easy to start off, used to be the most popular kind of base but now depending on how bad the [[Infestation]]s are it can be good or impossible late game.
+
This is a common method to build bases, and is generally the recommended way to do so.
 +
|| Build everything in separated buildings, just like building a small town.
 +
 
 +
This is great for starting off, as well as building in swamps where the land is not suited for building superstructure bases.
 +
|| For mountainous maps where you have less space to build, you can opt to dig inside the mountains instead.
 
|-
 
|-
 
! Pros
 
! Pros
−
|  
+
|
−
* Saves building materials and space.
+
*Convenient
−
* Easier to control temperature.
+
*Saves building materials and some space
−
* Easier to defend against raids.
+
*More resistant against [[Events#Toxic_Fallout|toxic fallout]]
−
* More resistant against [[Events#Toxic_Fallout|toxic fallout]].
+
*Improved temperature control
 
||
 
||
−
* Easier to avoid areas with building restrictions.
+
*Flexible
−
* Naturally gets rid of cabin fever.
+
*Does not require large patches of land
−
* Naturally offer areas in between buildings to fight raiders that drop on top.
 
 
||
 
||
−
* Saves a lot of building materials.
+
*Good temperature control
−
* Easier to control temperature.
+
*Easy to defend
−
* Easier to defend against raids.
+
*Immune to mortar strikes
−
* More resistant against [[Events#Toxic_Fallout|toxic fallout]].
+
*Leaves more soil available for farming
−
* Free, beautiful [[Smooth stone|floor]] and walls.
 
−
* Immune to sieges and raiders dropping on top.
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
! Cons
 
! Cons
−
|  
+
|
−
* Patches of deep water can limit the design and patches of soft sand will require [[moisture pump]]s before building, but not marshy terrain since they can just be covered with [[bridge]]s.
+
*Fires can spread all over the base if flammable materials are used
−
* Some areas might need to be unroofed to prevent cabin fever.
+
*Requires a large, continuous area of buildable land, making it not viable for swamp [[biomes]]
−
* Some large hallways might be needed to help defend against raiders dropping on top.
+
*Not flexible
 +
*Less able to satisfy outdoors need, so risk of cabin fever [[thoughts]]
 
||
 
||
−
* Requires more space and building materials overall.
+
*Requires more space and building materials overall
−
* Harder to control temperature.
 
−
* Harder to defend against most raids.
 
−
* Vulnerable to [[Events#Toxic_Fallout|toxic fallout]].
 
 
||
 
||
−
* Infestations inside can be impossible to deal with.
+
*'''Infestations can happen within base'''
−
* Cabin fever can be a real problem.
+
*Not flexible
−
* [[Events#Roof collapsed|Roof collapses]] underneath mountains are capable of instantly killing pawns.
+
*Colonists who never go outdoors will suffer the progressively debilitating Cabin Fever [[Thoughts|thought]].
 
|}
 
|}
  
 
== Base Structures ==
 
== Base Structures ==
  
−
Different structures suit the different needs of your colony. The maps generate with old structures around, sometimes just walls and others are squares/rectangles just missing some filling sections. These if conveniently located can work perfectly at starting points reducing considerably the initial workload of characters with low level skills and reducing the beginning stage stress when you still have nothing.
+
Different structures suit the different needs of your colony.
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
=== Warehouse ===
 
−
 
 
−
The warehouse is a storage room. Currently the first room we need to build due to the "outdoors" deterioration on items if left in the open, place a stockpile zone covering most of it but the tiles adjacent to the doors as sometimes pawns may accidentally drop an item leaving it open and free to steal valuables. It is not an official [[room roles|room role]]. In mid-game, you can add [[orbital trade beacon]]s to sell your stuff to trade ships. It does not need to be impressive or temperature controlled and should be built close to the workshop to minimize travel times.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
=== Barracks ===
 
−
 
 
−
The barracks is a room with multiple beds.
 
−
 
 
−
They are usually a good option early-game when resources are limited, or during late-game to deal with an overflow of people. Overall, it is better to have separate bedrooms since barracks give a lower mood modifier and cause a lot of 'Disturbed sleep' penalties.
 
−
 
 
−
Good barracks give good mood modifiers so they should have plenty of art, good flooring and high-quality furniture. It should be temperature controlled for better moods. [[Dresser]]s are a very good addition to barracks since they increase the comfort of many beds at once.
 
−
 
 
−
Colonists like to eat as soon as they wake up, but do not place table and chairs inside the barracks or colonists will use the tables at night and cause 'Disturbed sleep' penalties, instead barracks should be built close to dining rooms.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
=== Bedrooms ===
 
−
 
 
−
Bedrooms are rooms with only one bed.
 
−
 
 
−
Only couples like to share a room, and all sleeping colonists will get disturbed by non-lovers walking about in the same room while they sleep, so once you have the resources you should upgrade to individual bedrooms for each colonist or couple. Couples will sleep together on [[double bed]]s, so it is recommended to have them in all rooms because couples are not smart enough to assign themselves to bedrooms with double beds, so if you have some bedrooms with normal beds and others with double beds you have to manually re-assign the couples every time they go out on a [[caravan]].
 
−
 
 
−
Good bedrooms give good mood modifiers so they should have plenty of art, good flooring and high-quality furniture. It should be temperature controlled for better moods. [[Dresser]]s and [[end table]]s are recommended in bedrooms to increase the comfort of the bed. [[Royal bed]]s are particularly good to have in bedrooms if you can afford it.
 
−
 
 
−
Colonists like to eat as soon as they wake up, so you can put chairs or tables inside the rooms to make use of room space, or have them shared outside to save materials and discourage colonists from entering rooms to eat, disturbing others' sleep.
 
−
 
 
  
 
=== Dining room ===
 
=== Dining room ===
  
−
Dining rooms are rooms with table and chairs for colonists to eat in.
+
Dining rooms, at its simplest, are simply rooms where you put tables and chairs for colonists to dine in.
  
−
It is usually a good idea to have the main dining room near the food storage so your colonists will actually use the dining room, instead of eating on the floor.
+
A dining room should be built as close as possible near the freezer/ food storage so your colonists will actually use the dining room, instead of eating on the floor of the storage, giving them a -3 mood debuff. This is especially true for larger freezers, in which colonists retrieving food from the far end may simply give up searching for a table and eat on the floor.
−
It's also a good idea to have a minor dining room near the colonist's bedrooms or they might eat their breakfast on the floor since colonists tend to go to bed with food and eat as soon as they wake up.
 
  
−
In big bases, dining rooms can be partially unroofed to get rid of cabin fever since colonists do not mind eating in hot or cold rooms.
+
For increased mood buffs, decorate your dining room using [[sculptures]], [[plant pot]]s or quality furniture.
  
−
Good dining rooms give good mood modifiers so they should have plenty of art, light, good flooring and high-quality furniture. It does not need to be temperature controlled. [[Nutrient paste dispenser]]s are very useful on dining rooms to ensure that nobody needs to eat raw food, they are usually placed half in the dining room and half in the freezer.
+
=== Rec room ===
  
−
Dining rooms can be combined with recreation rooms.
+
You should have a wide variety of [[joy]] sources so your colonists don't get bored repeatedly throwing horseshoes at a pin, or wandering around aimlessly. Putting all of them in a room also provides a mood bonus after a colonist uses the facilities inside, depending on the impressiveness of the room.
  
−
=== Recreation rooms ===
+
In the early game all you'll need is a horseshoes pin somewhere in the colony, and colonists will proceed to use it when they are bored.
  
−
The recreation room is a room with sources of [[joy]].
+
Once you reach midgame, you can afford more joy facilities such as chess tables or billiards tables, or [[Tube television]]s, which provide different kinds of joy for additional variety. In addition, you can also obtain additional joy sources from exotic goods traders, such as [[telescope]]s or [[Flatscreen television|flatscreen]] and [[Megascreen television|megascreen]] televisions, which are more joyful than the craftable tube television.
  
−
Colonists get bored of using the same joy source repeatedly, so you should have as many joy sources as possible in the recreation room.
+
Similarly to the dining room, decorating it can improve the mood bonus from using the room.
  
−
In the early game, all you need is a [[horseshoes pin]] and a [[chess table]]. During mid-game you can add a [[poker table]], a [[billiards table]] and a [[tube television]], then upgrade it to a [[flatscreen television]]. Later, buy a [[megascreen television]] and a [[telescope]] from traders.
+
=== Combined common room ===
  
−
In big bases, recreation rooms can be partially unroofed to get rid of cabin fever since colonists do not mind playing in hot or cold rooms.
+
Combining a dining room with a rec room is quite a good idea, as the room will have increased impressiveness as the wealth and space of both rooms are combined, and colonists' mood gains are based on the activity they did in the room, rather than the function of the room.
  
−
Good recreations rooms give good mood modifiers so they should have plenty of art, light, good flooring and high-quality furniture. It does not need to be temperature controlled.
+
Should you choose to do so, remember to leave enough space for both joy furniture and dining tables. You can choose to toggle the 'Gather spot' on for these tables, or set them to 'Off' and have an additional table for social purposes.
  
−
Recreation rooms can be combined with dining rooms.
+
=== Barracks ===
  
−
=== Common room ===
+
You will need somewhere indoors for your colonists to sleep early-game. It should be one of your starting projects.
  
−
Recreation rooms can be combined with dining rooms to form a common room. It is not an official [[room roles|room role]].
+
Build beds for your colonists to sleep in as colonists dislike sleeping on the ground.
  
−
These tend to be larger and more impressive than them separated, and they can serve the roles of both rooms, giving their respective mood modifiers.
+
=== Bedrooms ===
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
=== Freezer ===
 
−
 
 
−
The freezer is room with a stockpile that is kept cold by [[cooler]]s. It is not a official [[room roles|room role]].
 
−
 
 
−
This is usually the second biggest room in the base, it is where you put your perishables that would otherwise spoil in the storage like food and corpses. It should be covered by [[orbital trade beacon]]s so you can sell your food to trade ships.
 
−
 
 
−
[[Butcher spot]]s, [[butcher table]]s and [[crafting spot]]s can be placed inside the freezer to butcher corpses, make [[kibble]] and make [[smokeleaf joint]]s- since the work to make those is so small and the ingredients are in the freezer your colonists might as well do it there. However, for mass production, it's better to have it close but outside the freezer due to the work speed penalty.
 
−
 
 
−
[[Nutrient paste dispenser]]s are usually placed half in the dining room and half in the freezer.
 
−
 
 
−
Even though food freezes at {{Temperature|0}} you should have your freezer at least set at {{Temperature|-5}} since it will lose temperature whenever a colonist comes in. It is common to make airlocks in the entrance of the freezer to reduce that temperature exchange. It is also common to make the freezer with double walls to increase insulation. The freezer is vulnerable to [[Events#Solar Flare|solar flares]].
 
−
 
 
−
To save power it is a good idea to have the [[cooler]]s set to different temperatures. For example, if two [[cooler]]s are set to {{Temperature|-5}} then both will always consume power, but if a [[cooler]] is set to {{Temperature|-5}} and another is set to {{Temperature|-8}} then the first will only consume power during hotter times when the second is not able to keep the temperature bellow {{Temperature|-5}} alone.
 
−
 
 
−
It does not need to be impressive and should be built close to dining rooms and kitchens.
 
  
 +
[[File:Bedroom_example_midgame.png|400px|thumb|right|Mid-game bedrooms from Alpha 17. Each is carpeted, has beds, tables with chairs, flower pots for decoration and a vent connected to the corridors.]]
  
−
=== Kitchen ===
+
Only colonists in love like to share a bedroom, and all sleeping colonists will get disturbed by non-lovers walking about in the same room while they sleep, so once you have the manpower and materials you should upgrade to individual bedrooms for each colonist or couple.  If you have couples they will need a double bed so that they can sleep together and avoid a mood debuff.
  
−
The kitchen is a room with a stove or a [[butcher table]].
+
For better comfort and rest effectiveness, make sure the beds are of Normal quality or above, otherwise deconstruct and try again until you get it.  
  
−
The kitchen is where your colonists turn raw food into meals. The room should be clean to avoid [[ailments#food poisoning|food poisoning]], so the [[butcher table]] may be placed nearby in a different room instead since it creates a lot of filth. Also, zone out colony animals.
+
You should also have tables and chairs in the bedrooms, as colonists often carry a meal with them. Without a table, colonists will resort to eating their breakfast on the floor and gain a mood debuff.  Turn off the 'Gather Spot' option on these tables, as colonists seeking [[joy]] may sit at these tables, possibly entering ''someone else's bedroom'' and disturb their sleep (though they don't seem to care beyond that).  Another option is to set aside one room near the bedrooms as a dining room or even build a table and chairs outdoors nearby.
  
−
Besides stoves, the kitchen should include chairs, light and [[sterile tile]]s. You might want to add a little vegetable stockpile inside to save travel time, as plants take awhile to spoil.
+
As you progress in the game, you should upgrade your bedrooms to allow colonists to live and sleep better.
 +
*At the very beginning, you only need it to be 2x2, just enough to fit a bed and possibly an end table.
 +
*In early-midgame, bedrooms should ideally be at least be 3x5; this gives you enough space to squeeze in a bed, a table and some other things, without feeling too cramped.
 +
*In mid-game or later, a 4x6 bedroom allows you to fit in a double bed, a 1x2 table with chairs, an [[end table]] and a [[dresser]], with some room for decorations.
  
−
Since the kitchen is placed near the freezer, some crafting stations which include plants ingredients may be also placed in here. The [[brewery]] and [[drug lab]] are good choices and if you do place them here you should also add [[tool cabinet]]s and little stockpiles for [[hops]], [[smokeleaf leaves]], [[psychoid leaves]] and [[neutroamine]]. Also, if you making [[chemfuel]] with food you may place the [[biofuel refinery]] here.
+
=== Storage ===
  
−
It does not need to be impressive, but it is usually a good idea to add a little art since colonists tend to stay there for a long time. It should be temperature controlled for better working speed.
+
You will obviously need to store your stuff somewhere in your base.
  
−
=== Workshop ===
+
==== Warehouse ====
  
−
The workshop is a room with crafting stations.
+
A simple structure with nothing but an expansive stockpile zone to store items in. You can have multiple smaller stockpile zones which are set to allow different items so that colonists can sort them.
  
−
The workshop is where your colonists turn raw materials into advanced products. Besides crafting stations, the workshop should include chairs, light and [[tool cabinet]]s. A lot of different little materials stockpiles may be placed inside to save travel time.
+
==== Dangerous items ====
  
−
Early game crafting stations include the [[stonecutter's table]], [[sculptor's table]], [[hand-tailoring bench]] and [[fueled smithy]]. Mid game crafting stations include the [[machining table]], as well as the electric versions of [[hand-tailoring bench]] and [[fueled smithy]]. Late game crafting stations include the [[fabrication bench]].
+
It may be worth it to store items that can explode, such as [[mortar shell]]s or [[chemfuel]] independently in a walled room away from the exterior of the base. You can partition the room to stop explosions from affecting your entire stock of materials.  You may want to build this room out of stronger walls and doors to contain an accidental explosion inside or prevent an explosion outside from setting off the materials inside.
  
−
The [[brewery]], [[drug lab]], [[biofuel refinery]], [[electric crematorium]] and [[electric smelter]] may also be placed here.
+
Putting it away from the exterior prevents [[doomsday rocket launcher]]s fired at your base from hitting the items.
  
−
It does not need to be impressive, but it is usually a good idea to add a little art since colonists tend to stay there for a long time. It should be temperature controlled for better working speed.
+
==== Freezer ====
  
−
It should be built close to storage.
+
Freezers are vital to food preservation if you aren't living in a really cold place.
  
−
=== Laboratory ===
+
Consider making a dedicated stockpile with a very high priority at the front of your freezer which only allows [[meal]]s. This way, your meals will always be right at the front of your possibly very large freezer. Also, if you make two more stockpiles at the front of your freezer for meat and veggies, your cook won't have to run as far for ingredients, allowing him to make meals faster (colonists assigned to hauling and trained animals will move ingredients from the back of the freezer to the front).
  
−
The laboratory is a room with a [[simple research bench]] or a [[hi-tech research bench]].
+
Expect your dining room to be pretty crowded during meal times, especially after a party or marriage ceremony, so have enough chairs for at least half your colony. Colonists will also hang out in the dining room if you set the table for it, occupying seats.
  
−
Research speed is affected by the cleanliness of the room which is why it might be worth making a separate room for it.  It should be isolated to avoid other people walking in dirt. Zone out colony animals.
+
To save power, if you are living somewhere with sub-zero temperatures during the day (possibly in winter), put vents that lead outwards and turn off your freezer so you can use the outside cold to chill your meals. Close the vents once temperatures get warmer.
  
−
Besides the research bench, the laboratory should include a chair, light and [[sterile tile]]s. After you get the [[hi-tech research bench]] you can also get a [[multi-analyzer]].
+
==== Armory ====
  
−
It does not need to be impressive, but it is usually a good idea to add a little art since colonists tend to stay there for a long time. It should be temperature controlled for better working speed.
+
You can choose to have a dedicated area to store your weapons. If so, put it far away from your prison so that prisoners do not have ready access to dangerous weapons.
  
 
=== Hospital ===
 
=== Hospital ===
 +
[[File:Hospital_example_midgame.png|400px|thumb|right|Hospital with sterile tiles, hospital beds with vital monitors, decorations and megascreen TVs facing the beds.]]
  
−
[[File:Efficient hospital.png|400px|thumb|right|Spatially efficient hospital design.]]
+
Dedicated hospitals are more of a mid-game thing when you have enough resources to build the specialized equipment used in them.
  
−
The hospital is a room with a medical bed. It is a place specialized in treating your colonists-if you do not have one, colonists will be treated in bedrooms. The room should be clean to avoid [[infection]]. Zone out colony animals.
+
Hospitals should be built somewhere where colonists can quickly bring their downed comrades to treat them. Keep doors open, or use [[autodoor]]s so they don't obstruct colonists' access. If you need to you can build more elsewhere in the base.
  
−
In early-game all you need is [[floors]], [[bed]]s and a light source. During midgame you should replace your floor with [[sterile tile]]s and your beds with [[hospital bed]]s, and add [[vitals monitor]]s. All these will increase treatment quality.
+
[[Hospital bed]]s provide a boost to treatment quality, immunity gain speed, and healing speed, meaning colonists will recover faster from illnesses and injuries, making them the choice for hospitals.
 +
The [[vitals monitor]] brings even better boosts to treatment and immunity gain, so when available it's recommended that you put them down near your hospital beds.
  
−
Store medicine in or near your hospital so your doctors can quickly patch up your colonists.
+
Store your medicine in or near your hospital using [[shelf|shelves]] so your doctors can quickly grab them to patch up colonists before they bleed to death. Sometimes just that little distance can already make a difference between life and death.
  
−
Good hospitals give good mood modifiers so they should have plenty of art and high-quality furniture. It should be temperature controlled for better moods and to prevent heatstroke or hypothermia from visitors. Since injured colonists will likely spend a lot of time in the hospital it is a good idea to add televisions which they can watch while in bed. If you do not have televisions, other colonists will go to the hospital to cheer them up to provide [[joy]].
+
Hospitals should have [[sterile tile]]s as flooring as they provide a slight cleanliness buff that can increase surgery success chance and reduce wound infection chance.
  
−
It should be built close to the base entrance for quicker rescue.
+
Decorating hospitals to make them beautiful can give colonists inside a great mood boost (max +15, plus impressive room stats). This is good, especially considering that some colonists will stay in the hospital for some time , such as the severely injured, incapacitated or sick.
  
−
=== Armory ===
+
To provide joy, you may also install televisions into your hospitals. Patients lying in hospital beds within the viewing area will watch TV to entertain themselves when they are bored, and you won't need colonists coming to cheer them up as their only joy source.
  
−
The armory is a room with a stockpile for weapons and armor. It is not an official [[room roles|room role]].
+
==== Patient rooms ====
  
−
Often your colonists need to change their guns and gear to better fight different kinds of raids. Having an armory helps to keep your gun and gear stock under control and puts them in a more accessible position for your colonists to grab them quickly.
+
If you have even more resources you can build a separate room for each colonist. While they don't mind sleeping with others in a hospital, they do get disturbed by them walking around, and dirt can more easily affect cleanliness as well.
  
−
It does not need to be impressive. It does not need to be temperature controlled.
+
==== Operating theater ====
  
−
It should be built close to your defenses for quicker reaction to raids, and should also be far away from the prison.
+
You can build a separate room to accommodate colonists who will undergo surgery, to make sure that colonists undergo medical operations in the cleanest of places.
  
−
=== Barn ===
+
Your operating theater should be forbidden at all cases except when someone is about to have surgery. This prevents colonists from tracking dirt or blood into it, staining it.
  
−
The barn is a walled area with [[animal sleeping spot]]s, [[animal sleeping box]]s or [[animal bed]]s.
+
==== Vet area ====
  
−
Barns help ensure that hauling animals will go back to your base at night for safety and that fragile animals will be isolated from predators. They are also used to ensure that animals products will drop near your base for quicker hauling.
+
Also consider building animal sleeping spots with their own animal area near your medicine stockpile that you can restrict wounded animals to.  That way, they can be treated as fast as possible.
  
−
They should include stockpiles of [[hay]] or [[kibble]] for the animals, if they are placed outside they should be in a [[shelf]] to avoid deteriorating. Since animals go back to their boxes or bed for healing it might be a good idea to store medicine near your barn for quicker patching up, again if placed outside they should be in a [[shelf]].
+
=== Laboratory ===
  
−
Sometimes, it is good to have a second small separated barn to bring in wild animals that you want to tame. Wild animals might go away or die for many different reasons, but if you keep them in an isolated room with food they will stay there forever. A good example is an [[events#herd migration: (animal)|animal herd]] passing through the area. You will not have time to tame them, but you can beat them down and bring them to your base and have all the time you need to tame them. Also prevents them from causing damage if the taming fails.
+
You may want to have a room dedicated to research, with [[hi-tech research bench]]es, [[multi-analyzer]]s to increase research speed and unlock new research, as well as sterile tiles to keep the room clean, increasing research speed. For even better cleanliness, restrict the lab to your researchers and janitors only, reducing traffic and hence the amount of dirt in the room.
−
 
 
−
It does not need to be impressive, indeed it is better to not put down floors to avoid animal filth. It does not need to be indoors but you might want to at least partially roof it in case a [[Events#Toxic_Fallout|toxic fallout]] happens. It does not need to be temperature controlled unless if your animals cannot handle the local temperature.
 
−
 
 
−
It should be built close to freezer or stockpile.
 
  
 
=== Prison ===
 
=== Prison ===
  
−
[[File:Prison_example_midgame.png|400px|thumb|right|Mid-game prison blocks, with a filled cell and a warden. Each cell has a table, a chair, a bed and some decorations. This is a more traditional design counting on wardens to regularly feed and interact with prisoners.]]
+
[[File:Prison_example_midgame.png|400px|thumb|right|Mid-late game prison blocks from A17, partially filled. Each cell has a table with a chair, a bed, decorations and a chess table with a chair (for decoration). Generosity like this is well-appreciated and rewarded with prisoners joining your colony. Note that the doors open towards the rest of the base (downwards).]]
−
 
 
−
The prisons is the place where you put your captives of war. Better prisons make it easier to recruit people. Still, they are not consistently used, so one should consider how much effort and resources should be invested in it. During mid-late game, prisoners without immediate use can be kept for free inside [[cryptosleep casket]]s instead.
 
−
 
 
−
Basic features:
 
−
 
 
−
* Enclosed by walls, including objects that act as walls, such as the [[nutrient paste dispenser]].
 
−
* [[Bed]]s or [[sleeping spot]]s.
 
−
* Safe temperature.
 
−
 
 
−
Good mood features:
 
−
 
 
−
* Light source.
 
−
* [[Floors]].
 
−
* Table and chairs.
 
−
* Art.
 
−
* Comfortable temperature.
 
−
* [[Dresser]]s and [[end table]]s.
 
−
* [[Psychic emanator]].
 
−
 
 
−
Convenience features:
 
−
 
 
−
* Food stock.
 
−
* Medicine stock.
 
−
* Uniform stock.
 
−
* [[Nutrient paste dispenser]].
 
−
 
 
−
Medical features:
 
−
 
 
−
* [[Sterile tile|Sterile floor]].
 
−
* [[Hospital bed]].
 
−
* [[Vitals monitor]].
 
−
 
 
−
Safety features:
 
−
 
 
−
* Isolated from the rest of the base, but not close to the map edges.
 
−
* Isolated from any potential weapons, even [[wood]] and [[beer]].
 
−
* Doors connected to an empty walled area, possibly guarded by [[Mini-turret|turrets]].
 
−
 
 
−
Prisons can have the following rooms:
 
  
 
==== Prison barracks ====
 
==== Prison barracks ====
  
−
Barracks are rooms with multiple prisoner beds.
+
In the early game you can simply convert any existing ruins into a makeshift prison barracks, or build a simple prison hut which holds all the prisoners you capture. Try not to build it too far away from your main structures, otherwise it becomes harder to catch escaping prisoners.
  
−
They are cheaper than cells and allow for features that are unreasonable to have in every single cell. The barracks mood modifier is lower than the cell but the barracks usually provides the 'Spacious interior' modifier and better dining room modifier, so they arguably offer better mood than cells since prisoners do not get 'Disturbed sleep' penalties. However, if a [[Events#Prison break|prison break]] happens all prisoners in the same barracks will break out together.
+
You should include tables and chairs for prisoners to use.
  
 
==== Prison cells ====
 
==== Prison cells ====
−
 
−
Cells are rooms with a single prisoner bed.
 
  
−
Cells offer only slightly better mood improvement than barracks and usually are much more limited in what they can have. The major advantage of cells is that if a [[Events#Prison break|prison break]] happens, not all prisoners in nearby cells will join. They also prevent fights between prisoners.
+
Like colonists, [[prisoner]]s will also suffer from the mood penalties associated with being kept together in a prison barracks. In addition, prison breaks are more serious should they happen, for every prisoner locked up in the same room will simultaneously break out, while prisoners in different cells may choose not to join. Thus, you should keep them separated.
  
−
If you are lacking space for prisoners, a colonist bedroom can be temporarily turned into a cell.
+
Each cell should have a table with a chair, a bed, and a light source. This is the bare minimum you need for a prisoner to be decently kept. Decorating the cell and making them bigger also increase mood bonuses for easier recruitment. They can't use any joy items put in the cell, nor do they have a joy need, so don't bother with joy items other than for aesthetic purposes.
  
−
==== Prison hospital ====
+
Prisons should have doors facing towards your base, so escaping prisoners will go towards your base instead of away, giving your wardens more time to deal with the break.
  
−
The prison hospital is a room with medical prisoner beds. It is not an official [[room roles|room role]].
+
==== Holding cell ====
  
−
Prisoners often first enter your prison injured, so having a proper prison hospital can help avoid unnecessary deaths and infections. They are like a regular hospital attached to the rest of your prison, however, you do not need to have televisions in it since prisoners are not affected by [[joy]].
+
A larger cell with more beds. It should be only be used when your prison cells are overflowing. Put your less important prisoners inside them while assigning your more valuable prisoners into the cells.
  
−
The prison hospital does not need to be a separated room only for healing. It can be the barracks but with medical features.
+
=== Multipurpose rooms ===
  
−
==== Prison freezer ====
+
These are more of an early to early-midgame thing that you can use before you get dedicated structures erected, such as hospitals or bigger prisons. Yet, these can still prove useful sometimes, like when your freezers or warehouses overflow, or you need somewhere to house an influx of injured or sick colonists.
  
−
The prison freezer is a room with a stockpile kept cold by [[cooler]]s inside the prison. It is not an official [[room roles|room role]].
+
This is rather simple; just make an empty room, along with suitable temperature control. You can add beds if you intend on someone living in it (be it colonists or prisoners), which you can uninstall and tuck away in a corner when unused
  
−
For storing stocks of food and [[herbal medicine]] to prevent spoilage. If you have a [[Nutrient paste dispenser]] you can place half of it and all the [[hopper]]s inside.
+
=== Backup ===
  
−
=== Tomb ===
+
There are many types of ways you can set up buildings on your map to possibly save your colonists' lives in dire situations:
 +
*'''Shelters:''' Building small rooms with an emergency food and wood supply can save your colonists from enraged animals. Thick enough walls (at least 4 layers) can stop raiders from killing your colonists hiding inside.
 +
*'''[[Nutrient paste dispenser]]s''': When food is running low or you forecast that it will, a paste dispenser can significantly slow down food consumption by efficiently converting raw foods into nutrient paste.
  
−
The tomb is a room with [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]].
+
== Production ==
  
−
Not the most important of the rooms, but colonists do go visit sarcophagi or graves filled with dead colonists for [[joy]] so you might want to give a nicer room for them to do that.
+
You will also need various buildings to produce or manufacture the stuff that your colonists need.
  
−
It does not need to be impressive or temperature controlled and can be built anywhere.
+
=== Crops ===
  
−
== Production ==
+
[[File:SunlampHydroponics.png|thumb|300px|right|Sun lamp illuminating crops grown in hydroponics basins. With this configuration you can fit 24 basins under 1 sun lamp for a total of 96 plants grown.]]
  
−
You will need fields, buildings and animals to provide the raw materials that your colony needs.
+
''See also: [[Food production]]
  
−
=== Crop fields===
+
==== Crop fields ====
  
−
[[File:SunlampHydroponics.png|thumb|300px|right|Sun lamp illuminating crops grown in hydroponics basins. With this configuration you can fit 24 basins under 1 sun lamp for a total of 96 plants grown.]]
+
Crop fields are rather simple; just set up a growing zone, designate the desired plant type and growers will automatically go and grow the plants.
  
−
''See also: [[Food production]]
+
You need to check carefully the soil fertility before marking out your areas.
 +
*Gravel looks quite similar to dirt at first glance, but has a greatly reduced fertility meaning plants will grow slower.
 +
*Rich soil, on the other hand, is visibly darker and has improved fertility, making it suitable for long growing time plants such as [[devilstrand]].
  
−
Crop fields are growing zones or [[hydroponics basin]]s, designated to the desired plant type.
+
You will need to keep animals out, whether or not they are tamed. Exclude these areas out of the allowed areas of animals, and build walls to keep out wild animals.
  
−
Depending on the soil fertility different plants might generate the best productivity, for example:
+
==== Greenhouses ====
  
−
[[Potatoes]] and [[berries]] grows better in poor soil.
+
Enclosed areas that grow crops with the aid of temperature control, [[sun lamp]]s and possibly [[hydroponics basin]]s. They allow you to continue growing crops regardless of soil or weather conditions.  Note that greenhouses are subject to power draining events like [[Events#Solar Flare|solar flares]], knocking out lamps, heaters and hydroponics.
  
−
[[Rice]] and [[corn]] grows better in rich soil.
+
=== Mining ===
  
−
Crop fields need to be protected from raiders or they will burn them down, which can be hard on harsh [[biome]]s where the fertile soil might be far away from your base. They also need to be protected from animals, both wild and domestic. Crop fields are vulnerable to [[events#blight|blight]]s and [[Events#Toxic_Fallout|toxic fallout]]s.
+
In early-midgame you just need to select mineral outcrops and designate them, and miners will proceed to dig out the minerals.
  
−
Ideally, they should be made near your freezer.
+
Later on, you can choose to continue mining through several means.
  
−
=== Greenhouses ===
+
==== Strip mining ====
  
−
Greenhouses are a protected version of crop fields. They are growing zones or [[hydroponics basin]]s in a temperature controlled environment. Since they are indoors, they also require [[sun lamp]]s.
+
If you have more mountains or rocks which you can mine, you can strip mine them by mining out long tunnels with 2 tiles between each other. This allows you to cover everything in the mines.
  
−
They are much more expensive than fields but they allow crops to grow all year in cold environments. It is common to make airlocks in the entrance of the greenhouse to reduce temperature exchange and make it with double walls to increase insulation. They are vulnerable to [[events#blight|blight]]s and [[Events#Solar Flare|solar flares]].
+
Covering up your mine to prevent infestations is a good idea, using cheap materials such as [[wood]] it is possible to completely seal up the mines at a low cost. Alternatively, set up defenses at the mine entrance and just farm the insects.
  
−
To save power it is a good idea to have the [[heater]]s set to different temperatures. For example, if two [[heater]]s are set to {{Temperature|21}} then both will always consume power, but if a [[heater]] is set to {{Temperature|21}} and another is set to {{Temperature|24}} then the first will only consume power during colder times when the second is not able to keep the temperature above {{Temperature|21}} alone.
+
==== Deep drills ====
  
−
Ideally, they should be made near your freezer.
+
After research you will unlock the [[deep drill]] and the [[ground-penetrating scanner]] for use.
  
−
=== Mines ===
+
It is not recommended to start deep drilling without an active scanner as you cannot see the locations of mineral locations this way and deep drills cannot be relocated.
  
−
Mines are areas your colonists go to mine.  
+
Some deposits will be directly underneath your base. You can deconstruct or relocate buildings to give access to your drills. Be careful when you mine in colonists' bedrooms as they can easily disturb sleep.
  
−
If you are mining the stones in the outside layer of a mountain then you got nothing to worry about. However, if you decide to mine deep inside a mountain, then you need to build a proper mine as you mine out the stones to avoid rocks collapsing on top of your colonists. Wood is usually a good cheap material to use to make mines.
+
=== Animals ===
  
−
Another thing to worry about when making mines is [[infestation]]s. You can build doors inside your mine to create choke points where you can fight the insects and help your colonists running away. Alternatively, you can fill up the whole mountain with wood so [[infestation]]s can not happen at all.
+
Animals are an extremely useful asset to the colony if you can handle them (both in-game and performance-wise). They provide a variety of products, from raw food materials (meat, eggs or milk) for producing quality foods, to wool, which is an excellent insulator against both heat and cold. Moreover, they can be used in combat, as haulers, or as pack animals in a [[caravan]].
  
−
=== Drilling rooms ===
+
==== Barn ====
  
−
[[Deep drill]]s are placed far away from your base and similar to mines that they can also cause [[infestation]]s. So you might want to enclose the area with walls and doors to create choke points where you can fight the insects and prevent predators from attacking your isolated colonist.
+
Barns are necessary only if you're keeping some animals in places where temperatures can exceed their comfort, as animals don't mind sleeping in the open. In this case, a temperature-controlled barn is necessary to keep the animals comfy.
  
−
=== Animals ===
+
Building [[animal sleeping box]]es or [[animal bed]]s can help animals rest faster, though this doesn't really do much and is not cost efficient.
  
−
{{main|Animals}}
+
==== Chemfuel farming ====
  
−
Animals have a variety of uses, therefore herding some of them in your barn can be very helpful. Of course all animals can be used for different reasons, but it is worth mentioning some of them because they are either particularly useful or versatile:
+
[[Boomalope]]s are unique in the fact that they can produce [[chemfuel]]. This can be used to power generators, used as [[transport pod]] fuel or made into [[mortar shell]]s.
  
−
* Produce raw food: eggs, milk or meat. [[Chicken]], [[Cow]], [[Dromedary]], [[Muffalo]], [[Pig]].
+
Due to their explosive nature, they won't be attacked by predators, so you can let them roam freely without much danger. Keeping them confined is dangerous as the death of one boomalope can injure others, and if you don't intervene the other boomalopes will die, exploding and causing a chain reaction.
  
−
* Produce textiles: leather or wool. [[Chinchilla]], [[Alpaca]], [[Dromedary]], [[Muffalo]], [[Megasloth]].
+
=== Workshop ===
  
−
* Produce fuel: chemfuel. [[Boomalope]].
+
Workshops are places where you put all your crafting stations and benches, probably including your cooking stoves as well. You should put them near your warehouse so your colonists can spend less time hauling the needed resources to the workshop for crafting. Also remember to put chairs of any sort at the interaction spot so your colonists won't have to keep standing while crafting.
  
−
* Haul animals. [[Pig]], [[Wild boar]], [[Elephant]], [[Megasloth]].
+
The [[tool cabinet]] is handy for increasing productivity of your craftsmen, but you will need to allocate the positions of these carefully so as not to block colonists or future plans.
  
−
* Pack animals. [[Alpaca]], [[Dromedary]], [[Muffalo]], [[Elephant]].
+
Putting all the crafting stations inside the warehouse isn't recommended despite the convenience, as colonists do not enjoy the sight of random objects laying around. This lowers their beauty opinion of their surroundings, in turn giving mood penalties. You should however put crafting materials near the workshop for quicker retrieval.
  
−
* Combat animals. [[Wild boar]], [[Elephant]], [[Megasloth]].
+
It is an excellent idea to '''put decorations such as sculptures inside the workshop''', as a beautiful environment gives up to +15 mood, improving colonists' productivity and even allowing for the occasional mental inspiration.
  
−
[[Chicken]], [[Cow]], [[Chinchilla]], [[Alpaca]] and [[Boomalope]] are really profitable.
+
=== Kitchen ===
  
−
[[Pig]], [[Wild boar]], [[Elephant]] and [[Megasloth]] are the only ones that can graze and haul.
+
You should build your kitchen near your cold storage and your dining room, just as you build the workshop near your warehouse.
  
−
[[Dromedary]], [[Muffalo]], [[Elephant]] and [[Megasloth]] are really versatile.
+
Kitchens should only have cooking stoves, and sterile tiles for flooring to reduce the chance of food poisoning. The [[butcher table]] is best put elsewhere due to the heavy cleanliness debuff.
  
−
One should notice that combat animals are much better at defending caravans than defending your base.
+
[[Shelf|Shelves]] or small stockpiles can really improve cooking efficiency when placed right next to your stoves. Set one to accept berries and vegetables only, and the other to accept meals only the as these do not spoil in a matter of days, unlike meat which should always be in the freezer. Hauling colonists will do the transport work for your cooks instead.
  
 
== Power ==
 
== Power ==
−
 
−
Your colony needs power, so you should provide generators and protect them from attacks. Therefore, it is better to place them inside your base walls. Your options for power generation include the following.
 
  
 
=== Solar power ===
 
=== Solar power ===
  
−
[[File:Solar wind setup.png|thumb|420px|right|Wind turbines with solar generators packed underneath the exclusion zones.]]
+
[[Solar generator]]s provide power only during the day. It provides 1700W, quite a decent figure, but still not to be fully relied on.
−
 
 
−
[[Solar generator]]s provide power only during the day. It provides 1700W during peak hours near the equatorial line, but less near the poles. They are particularly good to power up [[sun lamp]]s since those only consume power during the day. They should be used together with [[battery|batteries]] so you may still have power during the night. They are vulnerable to [[events#Eclipse|eclipse]]s.
 
  
 
=== Wind power ===
 
=== Wind power ===
  
−
[[Wind turbine]]s provide unstable power throughout the day. It can provide up to 3000W, but it usually gives less than that. They should be used together with batteries to make up for the instability.
+
[[Wind turbine]]s provide unstable power throughout the day. It can provide up to 3000W, but it usually gives less than that.
  
−
It requires plenty of open space for maximum efficiency and any obstacles can easily reduce efficiency. To prevent trees from growing and obstructing the turbines, you may grow crops underneath the turbines or fill in the gaps with solar generators.
+
It requires plenty of open space for maximum efficiency, and any obstacles can easily reduce efficiency. To prevent trees from growing and obstructing the turbines, put down floors, grow crops underneath the turbines or fill in the gaps with solar generators.
  
 
=== Fueled generation ===
 
=== Fueled generation ===
  
−
You can get the [[wood-fired generator]] which runs on wood, or the [[chemfuel powered generator]] which runs on [[chemfuel]]. Both provide a constant 1000W of power, so it is a good idea to have some of these as a backup power source, or even as your main source in biomes that are loaded with trees. Since they are stable they do not require batteries.
+
You can get the [[wood-fired generator]] which runs on wood, or the [[chemfuel powered generator]] which runs on [[chemfuel]], constantly providing 1000W of power. It is a good idea to have some of these as a backup power source, or even as your main source in biomes that are loaded with forests that will replenish themselves, such as in the tropics.
  
−
Chemfuel is significantly more efficient than wood, so once you research the [[biofuel refinery]] it is better to refine wood into chemfuel before using it as fuel.
+
Chemfuel is significantly more efficient than wood, so once you research the [[refinery]] it's a better idea to refine wood into chemfuel before usage as fuel.
  
 
==== Boomalope setup ====
 
==== Boomalope setup ====
  
−
3 [[Boomalope]]s generate enough chemfuel to run 4 generators. It is easy to run an entire base on that setup since they generate more energy than you spend to grow food for them (most likely they will graze so no food required).
+
Boomalopes generate enough chemfuel to run 2 generators.
 +
 
 +
2 boomalopes give enough fuel to continuously power 5 generators for a total of 5000W. This is not taking into account any energy costs from growing food for use by the boomalopes.
  
 
==== Infinite chemreactor setup ====
 
==== Infinite chemreactor setup ====
  
−
[[Infinite chemreactor]]s generate enough chemfuel to run a generator, which in turn generates more than enough power to run the chemreactor.
+
Infinite chemreactors generate enough chemfuel to run a generator, which in turn generates more than enough power to run the chemreactor.
  
−
It is overall an amazing setup but [[infinite chemreactor]]s are hard to come by, so you should not expect to run your whole base on that.
+
8 infinite chemreactors can generate enough fuel to power 15 generators, for a total surplus power of 12600W.
  
 
=== Geothermal power ===
 
=== Geothermal power ===
  
−
[[Geothermal generator]]s constantly gives 3600W of power after being built on a steam geyser.  
+
[[Geothermal generator]]s constantly gives 3600W of power after being built on a steam geyser without requiring fuel. It is an important source of power from mid-game onward, as it is constant and high-powered.
  
−
While powerful, it has one big issue; you can not choose where the steam geysers will be, so if you do not have one inside your base you need to cover them with walls to protect them. If you wall off your [[geothermal generator]] completely with double walls the raiders will ignore it most of the time. They will, however, sometimes randomly attack your walls, but it is really unlikely that they will destroy both walls and reach the generator. As it can randomly break down, you should still add one door so colonists can enter, better to use stone doors because they are durable and raiders can not ignite it.
+
Research is required to unlock it, and the generator itself is quite costly so it's best left to midgame. However, once researched and built you can have a constant power supply, and with 5 generators on the map you can sustain a basic mid-sized colony.
  
−
Another problem is, raiders will likely destroy the conduits connecting the generator to your base, so build multiple conduit lines to reduce the likelihood of raiders completely severing the connection. Also, even though they do not need batteries, you should build some in case it gets disconnected during a raid.
+
Make sure your geothermal generators and their connecting conduits are well-protected as they often have to be placed far from base. Walling the generators helps protect them against raiders, but walling the conduits isn't recommended due to the cost and its hindrance on colonist field work.  Be aware of the heat that the geysers release. If you closely wall and roof in a geothermal generator, the temperature inside will be quite high, high enough in fact to catch combustible building materials on fire.  Consider removing the roofs on such buildings.  However, if the vent is close to your base in a cold biome, consider attaching its building to your own base to help heat it.
  
−
Note that they generate plenty of heat, so they should be unroofed or they will catch on fire.
+
It is possible to rush the research for geothermal power, though you should be careful not to neglect other more important research projects.
  
−
=== Watermill generator ===
+
=== Power storage ===
  
−
The [[watermill generator]] constantly provides 1100W of power but has to be placed next to rivers. So you must include the river inside your base design. However, that is usually quite simple since rivers tend to cross the whole map edge to edge. It does mean you will have to wall off a larger area, but it is well worth it since the watermill is quite reliable and lots of them can be placed on the same river.
+
You will need [[battery|batteries]] to store power if you're using unstable power supplies such as wind or solar power. Batteries need to be kept under a roof to prevent short-circuits, and they should be protected from external threats, too. Connect them to the grid via switches, so you can shut off unneeded batteries to reduce the impact of short circuits.
 +
 +
Leave a 1-tile gap between adjacent groups of batteries so power does not flow between them and you can independently control connectivity.
  
−
It is quite easy to run a base just on watermills but of course, rivers are not available in every map. Since they are stable they do not require [[battery|batteries]].
+
=== Power network ===
  
−
=== Vanometric power cell ===
+
It's not a good idea to have just 1 conduit spanning the entirety of your base.  While it saves materials, short circuits or other events can cripple your power supply.  Instead, build a network with redundant pathways so that the grid will continue to function even if there is a break somewhere in the network.
  
−
A [[vanometric power cell]] constantly provides 1000W of power and can be placed anywhere. Like the [[infinite chemreactor]], they are hard to come by, so you should not expect to run your whole base on that.
+
It is best to connect geothermal generators to other geothermal generators, so events such as wildfires and raider attacks won't easily disconnect them from your power network, causing severe power shortages.
  
−
They are particularly good for starting off new bases, or sometimes powering isolated objects such as [[deep drill]]s.
+
=== Emergency power ===
 +
 +
Some events will cause you to lose power if you are unprepared. Some colonies rely on wind or solar power to power everything, and eventually every colony with electricity will suffer from a [[events#Faulty Conduit Explosion|fault conduit explosion]], also show as 'Zzzt...' Both cases will cause you to lose power, whether it's not enough wind or sun, or an explosion. Raider attacking and destroying power conduits connected to power generators can sever power from the colony, reducing the power available.
 +
*'''Backup batteries''': Always have spare power stores, such as multiple battery systems with switches. Only connect extra when they are about to run out, or are charging.
 +
*'''Backup generators''': Have some fueled generators that you bring online only if there's not enough power in the colony. This can allow your backup batteries to discharge slower, or even recharge. If they are turned off they will not consume fuel.
  
−
=== Power storage ===
+
=== Vanometric power cell ===
  
−
[[Battery|Batteries]] store surplus power. They're recommended for when you rely on power sources that are not constant, such as wind or solar power. They allow for power storage during times of excess to be used during times of demand. For instance, this makes them useful to store spare power generated during the night from fueled generators in order to supply [[sun lamp]]s during the day.
+
A [[vanometric power cell]] constantly provides 1200W of power regardless of any condition, and can be placed anywhere. Obtaining it can be quite hard due to its rarity, even in the mid-late game, yet a constant, uninterrupted source of power is always valuable to any colony.
  
−
Not having batteries is also beneficial, if you have reliable power sources, since it almost nullifies the [[events#zzztt...|short circuit]] event, igniting a little fire instead of causing a huge explosion.
+
It can be used as a good starting power source when you are branching off to start a new colony.
−
 
 
−
Batteries need to be placed under a roof to prevent short-circuits during rain and should be placed indoors to protect them from external threats. Connect them to the grid via switches and shut off part of them after they are filled to reduce the impact of short circuits and have back up batteries in case of emergency.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Power network ===
 
−
 
 
−
It's not a good idea to have just one conduit spanning the entirety of your base. While it saves materials, short circuits or other events can create breaks that can disconnect entire parts of your base from power. Instead, build a network with redundant pathways so that the grid will continue to function even if there is a break.
 
−
 
 
−
Also, it is better to split the power network of your base. Having more than one power network makes power management harder but the [[events#zzztt...|short circuit]] event will be much smaller since it will not affect your whole base and all your power reserves.
 
  
 
== Defenses ==
 
== Defenses ==
−
 
 
{{main|Defense structures}}
 
{{main|Defense structures}}
 
{{see also|Defense tactics}}
 
{{see also|Defense tactics}}
  
−
Unless you are playing on peaceful difficulty, you will eventually encounter major threats, so you will need to prepare your defenses for that.
+
Unless you're playing on Peaceful difficulty, you will eventually encounter major threats, so you will need to prepare defenses for that.
  
−
More defensive buildings can be seen on [[defense structures]]. Here, we show only the basics.
+
The greatest advantage on your side is cover. While enemies are hiding behind rock chunks, you have [[sandbags]] and walls on your side, giving you a significant upper hand. You can even clear the rock chunks to force enemies behind trees which are less optimal a cover choice, widening the advantage.
  
−
=== Static cover ===
+
You can also choose to build [[turret]]s if you have unlocked them. They are essential if you don't have enough colonists to defend against raids, most typically the start of the Rich Explorer scenario.
  
−
At the very least you must have some sources of cover in your base. This includes sandbags and sometimes walls. They are enough on early-mid game or on easier difficulties.
+
== Temperature control ==
  
−
In a static cover based defense, it is better to combine two different types of cover structure, one using walls and another with sandbags covering the sides. The walled cover should be used where the enemy will engage, as the walls restrict the attack angle, and there should not be anyone standing behind the sandbags- these should be for soaking fire from oblique angles only. The other kind should be used at the sides to allow for a more flexible attack area.
+
Room should have its temperature regulated by some method or another, so as to keep a comfortable temperature for colonists to live in, and protect them from extreme temperature conditions such as heat waves, cold snaps or simply the outdoors ambient temperature.
  
−
The major problem of basic static cover is enemies with long-ranged weapons. They will have a lot of time to shoot at you while you are busy with the rest of the raid party. For that reason you might want to enclose your combat area into a killbox.
+
Large rooms such as your dining room or rec room should have their own [[heater]]s and [[cooler]]s. If they are interconnected you may want to open doors for faster colonist access and temperature exchange. If you choose to do so, remember to close doors if a fire breaks out in the room.
  
−
=== Killbox ===
+
Smaller rooms such as your bedrooms should be thermally connected to a larger central space through vents. Your heaters and coolers should be all placed outside the bedrooms. This reduces the number of heaters and coolers you need to build while keeping your bedrooms at a comfy temperature at the same time.
  
−
A basic yet powerful defense setup is the [[defense structures#killboxes|killbox]]. It is a walled area full of [[deadfall trap|trap]]s and [[turret]]s where you fight your enemy, making sure they do not out-range you or have cover, while your colonists have plenty of cover. It only works if it is the only entrance to your base and your whole base is surrounded by double walls.
+
Keep in mind that you will also need to be prepared in case of a freak temperature event such as heat waves or cold snaps. Without enough temperature devices rooms can get uncomfortably cold or hot, and in severe cases begin to cause hypothermia or heatstroke.
  
−
Turrets should all be connected to your power grid by [[power switch]]es. Put them in front to distract enemies such that they go for them before your colonists. They should be switched off if a [[events#manhunter pack|manhunter pack]] shows up, as it is better to let them die by your traps and finish them off by melee blocking them.
+
=== Cooler gap prevention ===
  
−
If a full-melee raid with [[shield belt]]s or a [[scyther]]-only raid shows up, throw [[EMP grenades]] at them while they gather around your turrets as it will significantly weaken them. While they are occupied attacking the turrets, you can shoot them up, and if they are about to destroy all the turrets, prepare to finish the survivors by melee blocking them.
+
As coolers need to be built as part of a wall, the process of building a cooler involves tearing down the original wall, then putting the cooler in place. This short interval allows temperature to go freely through the gap, which isn't something you want.
  
−
[[Centipede]]s with [[inferno cannon]]s are one of the major counters of killboxes, since the fire makes your colonists lose control and run out of cover. Having some [[firefoam popper]]s inside your box helps a lot with extinguishing fires and preventing future fires. [[EMP grenades]] also weaken them a lot if you can get close enough to throw them.
+
To fix this, you can plug the gap by building  cheap wooden wall in front of or behind the cooler blueprint, then starting work on the cooler. The wooden wall will prevent temperatures from equalizing easily. <br>
 +
Remember to deconstruct the wall after the cooler is done.
  
−
Another counter of killboxes are raiders with [[triple rocket launcher]] and [[doomsday rocket launcher]], if they manage to shoot inside your box the damage can be massive, therefore always focus them down. One safety measure is to keep some [[psychic shock lance]]s or [[psychic insanity lance]]s nearby and use them if you see that they will not die fast enough.
+
=== Protected coolers ===
−
 
 
−
Some enemies do not run into your box, but can be lured into it, such as raiders from sieges or mechanoids guarding crashed ships. Snipers can safely poke them from far until they aggro and bring them to the box.
 
−
 
 
−
Killboxes do not protect against sappers and raiders dropping on top of you. For those, you will need another strategy.
 
−
 
 
−
== Temperature control ==
 
  
−
Some rooms should have its temperature regulated by some method or another, so as to keep a comfortable temperature for colonists to work and sleep in and protect them from extreme temperature conditions such as [[events#heat wave|heat waves]], [[events#cold snap|cold snaps]] or simply the outdoor ambient temperature.
+
Coolers are very fragile, and a single explosion or dedicated effort from melee attackers can easily break them down. Protecting the coolers helps fortify your base against enemy raids by eliminating the weak points in your walls.  This is done by walling the coolers off while giving it unroofed space in front of the hot end to vent away heat.
  
−
Larger rooms such as your kitchen and workshop should have their own [[heater]]s and [[cooler]]s. If they are interconnected you may want to open doors for faster colonist access and temperature exchange.
+
If your colony is in a cold but not quite freezing biome, consider venting the heat from the coolers for your freezer into your living spaces instead.
  
−
Smaller rooms such as your bedrooms should be thermally connected to a larger central space through [[vent]]s. Your [[heater]]s and [[cooler]]s should be all placed outside the bedrooms. This reduces the number of [[heater]]s and [[cooler]]s you need to build while keeping your bedrooms at a comfy temperature at the same time.
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==== Cooler column ====
−
 
 
−
Keep in mind, that you will also need to be prepared in case of unusual temperature events, such as [[events#heat wave|heat waves]] or [[events#cold snap|cold snaps]]. Which, in severe cases, will cause heatstroke or hypothermia. [[events#heat wave|Heat waves]] will also spoil your food and corpses.
 
−
 
 
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=== Protected coolers ===
 
  
−
Coolers are very fragile, and raiders will see them as a weak point in your wall and will focus to destroy them. Protecting the coolers helps fortify your base against enemy raids by avoiding weak points. This is done by walling the coolers off while giving it unroofed space in front of the hot end to vent away heat. That unroofed area can be placed within an existing structure, such as inside the freezer. For maximum spatial efficiency the strips of unroofed area should be one tile wide, surrounded by coolers.
+
Have the hot end facing an unroofed area where the heat vents out into the open. That unroofed area can be placed within an existing structure, such as inside the freezer. For maximum spatial efficiency the strips of unroofed area should be 1 tile wide, surrounded by coolers.
  
−
If your colony is in a cold [[biome]], consider venting the heat from the coolers into your living spaces instead.
+
Best used for freezers to keep cool as most cases don't call for that many coolers.
  
 
=== Temporary temperature control ===
 
=== Temporary temperature control ===
  
−
If your regular [[heater]]s or [[cooler]]s are not enough or there is a temporary power outage or you are a tribe without the ability to harness electricity yet, you can use [[campfire]]s or [[passive cooler]]s to heat or cool down your base respectively. Both have the same effect as their electric variants, except that they need to be refueled and are limited in their available temperature range: campfires can not heat above 30°C while passive coolers can not cool below 15°C.  Also, their temperature effect is full and cannot be controlled.  Depending on what gear your colonists are wearing, it is possible for them in a room heated with campfires to complain about it being too hot.
+
If your regular heaters or coolers aren't doing the trick, there's a temporary power outage or you're a tribe without the ability to harness electricity yet, you can use [[campfire]]s or [[passive cooler]]s to heat or cool down your base respectively. Both have the same effect as their powered variants, except they are rather limited in their available temperature range: campfires can't heat above 30°C while passive coolers can't cool below 15°C.  Also, their temperature effect is full and cannot be throttled.  Depending on what gear your colonists are wearing, it's possible for them in a room being heated with campfires to complain about it being too hot.
  
−
These are best used to keep colonists comfortable during [[events#heat wave|heat waves]] or [[events#cold snap|cold snaps]]. If you always encounter uncomfortable temperatures during summer or winter then it is time to get more [[heater]]s or [[cooler]]s.
+
These are best used to keep colonists comfortable during heat waves or cold snaps. If you always encounter uncomfortable temperatures during summer or winter then it's time to upgrade your heaters or cooler system.
  
 
== Miscellaneous ==
 
== Miscellaneous ==
  
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=== Do not rush flooring ===
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=== Dirt floors ===
  
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Until you have enough manpower to spare for cleaning jobs, instead of building any floors, you can use the terrain as floors. Terrain does not generate animal and human filth and filth trailed on constructed floors makes for a much worse beauty penalty than using dirt floors, so this can actually make your rooms look better.
+
Until you have enough manpower to spare for cleaning jobs, instead of building any floors, use the terrain as the floors. Dirt trailed on constructed floors makes for a much worse beauty penalty than using dirt floors, so this can actually make your rooms look better.
  
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However, for places like hospitals, it is always better to use sterile tiles and manually clean them instead.
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However for places like hospitals it's better to use sterile tiles and manually clean them instead.
  
 
=== Flooring outside ===
 
=== Flooring outside ===
  
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To reduce the amount of dirt inside your colony buildings, put any kind of flooring covering places where colonists and animals frequently walk. This reduces the amount of dirt brought inside your base.  
+
To reduce the amount of dirt inside your colony buildings, put any kind of flooring covering places where colonists and animals frequently walk. This reduces the amount of dirt formed as well as causes dirt to be left outside where it does not look as bad.  
  
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This should obviously be done only if you have enough janitors.
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This should obviously be done only if you have enough janitors, otherwise it's better to just not build any floors (see above).
  
 
=== Moisture pumps ===
 
=== Moisture pumps ===
  
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[[Moisture pump]]s clear out moisture from the ground around them, creating dry land suitable for construction and agriculture.  They are excellent in swamp biomes for clearing out shallow water, marshy soil and mud in order to build structures.  Their effect is permanent, so they can safely be deconstructed once the land you want to use is dry.  Note that shallow water will be converted to stony soil, which only has 70% fertility.  Still, this can be the only way to farm in the ground in [[biome]]s like Extreme Desert and Ice Sheet. Can not be used for farming in Sea Ice since it creates ice ground.
+
[[Moisture pump]]s clear out moisture from the ground around them, making dry land suitable for construction and agriculture.  They are excellent in swamp biomes for clearing out shallow water, marshy soil and mud in order to build structures.  Their effect is permanent, so they can safely be deconstructed once the land you want to use is dry.  Note that shallow water will be converted to gravel, which only has 70% fertility.  Still, this can be the only way to farm in ground outdoors in biomes like Ice Sheet and Sea Ice.
  
 
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[[Category:Gameplay]]
 
[[Category:Gameplay]]

Revision as of 04:57, 22 January 2019

Template:NeedsPictures

This guide is the ultimate go-to guide to building your base, for all stages of the game.

Base Types

There are different ways to build your base.

X Superstructure base Town-like settlement Mountain base
Description To build a superstructure base, put everything in 1 large building rather than separate it into multiple small parts.

This is a common method to build bases, and is generally the recommended way to do so.

Build everything in separated buildings, just like building a small town.

This is great for starting off, as well as building in swamps where the land is not suited for building superstructure bases.

For mountainous maps where you have less space to build, you can opt to dig inside the mountains instead.
Pros
  • Convenient
  • Saves building materials and some space
  • More resistant against toxic fallout
  • Improved temperature control
  • Flexible
  • Does not require large patches of land
  • Good temperature control
  • Easy to defend
  • Immune to mortar strikes
  • Leaves more soil available for farming
Cons
  • Fires can spread all over the base if flammable materials are used
  • Requires a large, continuous area of buildable land, making it not viable for swamp biomes
  • Not flexible
  • Less able to satisfy outdoors need, so risk of cabin fever thoughts
  • Requires more space and building materials overall
  • Infestations can happen within base
  • Not flexible
  • Colonists who never go outdoors will suffer the progressively debilitating Cabin Fever thought.

Base Structures

Different structures suit the different needs of your colony.

Dining room

Dining rooms, at its simplest, are simply rooms where you put tables and chairs for colonists to dine in.

A dining room should be built as close as possible near the freezer/ food storage so your colonists will actually use the dining room, instead of eating on the floor of the storage, giving them a -3 mood debuff. This is especially true for larger freezers, in which colonists retrieving food from the far end may simply give up searching for a table and eat on the floor.

For increased mood buffs, decorate your dining room using sculptures, plant pots or quality furniture.

Rec room

You should have a wide variety of joy sources so your colonists don't get bored repeatedly throwing horseshoes at a pin, or wandering around aimlessly. Putting all of them in a room also provides a mood bonus after a colonist uses the facilities inside, depending on the impressiveness of the room.

In the early game all you'll need is a horseshoes pin somewhere in the colony, and colonists will proceed to use it when they are bored.

Once you reach midgame, you can afford more joy facilities such as chess tables or billiards tables, or Tube televisions, which provide different kinds of joy for additional variety. In addition, you can also obtain additional joy sources from exotic goods traders, such as telescopes or flatscreen and megascreen televisions, which are more joyful than the craftable tube television.

Similarly to the dining room, decorating it can improve the mood bonus from using the room.

Combined common room

Combining a dining room with a rec room is quite a good idea, as the room will have increased impressiveness as the wealth and space of both rooms are combined, and colonists' mood gains are based on the activity they did in the room, rather than the function of the room.

Should you choose to do so, remember to leave enough space for both joy furniture and dining tables. You can choose to toggle the 'Gather spot' on for these tables, or set them to 'Off' and have an additional table for social purposes.

Barracks

You will need somewhere indoors for your colonists to sleep early-game. It should be one of your starting projects.

Build beds for your colonists to sleep in as colonists dislike sleeping on the ground.

Bedrooms

Mid-game bedrooms from Alpha 17. Each is carpeted, has beds, tables with chairs, flower pots for decoration and a vent connected to the corridors.

Only colonists in love like to share a bedroom, and all sleeping colonists will get disturbed by non-lovers walking about in the same room while they sleep, so once you have the manpower and materials you should upgrade to individual bedrooms for each colonist or couple. If you have couples they will need a double bed so that they can sleep together and avoid a mood debuff.

For better comfort and rest effectiveness, make sure the beds are of Normal quality or above, otherwise deconstruct and try again until you get it.

You should also have tables and chairs in the bedrooms, as colonists often carry a meal with them. Without a table, colonists will resort to eating their breakfast on the floor and gain a mood debuff. Turn off the 'Gather Spot' option on these tables, as colonists seeking joy may sit at these tables, possibly entering someone else's bedroom and disturb their sleep (though they don't seem to care beyond that). Another option is to set aside one room near the bedrooms as a dining room or even build a table and chairs outdoors nearby.

As you progress in the game, you should upgrade your bedrooms to allow colonists to live and sleep better.

  • At the very beginning, you only need it to be 2x2, just enough to fit a bed and possibly an end table.
  • In early-midgame, bedrooms should ideally be at least be 3x5; this gives you enough space to squeeze in a bed, a table and some other things, without feeling too cramped.
  • In mid-game or later, a 4x6 bedroom allows you to fit in a double bed, a 1x2 table with chairs, an end table and a dresser, with some room for decorations.

Storage

You will obviously need to store your stuff somewhere in your base.

Warehouse

A simple structure with nothing but an expansive stockpile zone to store items in. You can have multiple smaller stockpile zones which are set to allow different items so that colonists can sort them.

Dangerous items

It may be worth it to store items that can explode, such as mortar shells or chemfuel independently in a walled room away from the exterior of the base. You can partition the room to stop explosions from affecting your entire stock of materials. You may want to build this room out of stronger walls and doors to contain an accidental explosion inside or prevent an explosion outside from setting off the materials inside.

Putting it away from the exterior prevents doomsday rocket launchers fired at your base from hitting the items.

Freezer

Freezers are vital to food preservation if you aren't living in a really cold place.

Consider making a dedicated stockpile with a very high priority at the front of your freezer which only allows meals. This way, your meals will always be right at the front of your possibly very large freezer. Also, if you make two more stockpiles at the front of your freezer for meat and veggies, your cook won't have to run as far for ingredients, allowing him to make meals faster (colonists assigned to hauling and trained animals will move ingredients from the back of the freezer to the front).

Expect your dining room to be pretty crowded during meal times, especially after a party or marriage ceremony, so have enough chairs for at least half your colony. Colonists will also hang out in the dining room if you set the table for it, occupying seats.

To save power, if you are living somewhere with sub-zero temperatures during the day (possibly in winter), put vents that lead outwards and turn off your freezer so you can use the outside cold to chill your meals. Close the vents once temperatures get warmer.

Armory

You can choose to have a dedicated area to store your weapons. If so, put it far away from your prison so that prisoners do not have ready access to dangerous weapons.

Hospital

Hospital with sterile tiles, hospital beds with vital monitors, decorations and megascreen TVs facing the beds.

Dedicated hospitals are more of a mid-game thing when you have enough resources to build the specialized equipment used in them.

Hospitals should be built somewhere where colonists can quickly bring their downed comrades to treat them. Keep doors open, or use autodoors so they don't obstruct colonists' access. If you need to you can build more elsewhere in the base.

Hospital beds provide a boost to treatment quality, immunity gain speed, and healing speed, meaning colonists will recover faster from illnesses and injuries, making them the choice for hospitals. The vitals monitor brings even better boosts to treatment and immunity gain, so when available it's recommended that you put them down near your hospital beds.

Store your medicine in or near your hospital using shelves so your doctors can quickly grab them to patch up colonists before they bleed to death. Sometimes just that little distance can already make a difference between life and death.

Hospitals should have sterile tiles as flooring as they provide a slight cleanliness buff that can increase surgery success chance and reduce wound infection chance.

Decorating hospitals to make them beautiful can give colonists inside a great mood boost (max +15, plus impressive room stats). This is good, especially considering that some colonists will stay in the hospital for some time , such as the severely injured, incapacitated or sick.

To provide joy, you may also install televisions into your hospitals. Patients lying in hospital beds within the viewing area will watch TV to entertain themselves when they are bored, and you won't need colonists coming to cheer them up as their only joy source.

Patient rooms

If you have even more resources you can build a separate room for each colonist. While they don't mind sleeping with others in a hospital, they do get disturbed by them walking around, and dirt can more easily affect cleanliness as well.

Operating theater

You can build a separate room to accommodate colonists who will undergo surgery, to make sure that colonists undergo medical operations in the cleanest of places.

Your operating theater should be forbidden at all cases except when someone is about to have surgery. This prevents colonists from tracking dirt or blood into it, staining it.

Vet area

Also consider building animal sleeping spots with their own animal area near your medicine stockpile that you can restrict wounded animals to. That way, they can be treated as fast as possible.

Laboratory

You may want to have a room dedicated to research, with hi-tech research benches, multi-analyzers to increase research speed and unlock new research, as well as sterile tiles to keep the room clean, increasing research speed. For even better cleanliness, restrict the lab to your researchers and janitors only, reducing traffic and hence the amount of dirt in the room.

Prison

Mid-late game prison blocks from A17, partially filled. Each cell has a table with a chair, a bed, decorations and a chess table with a chair (for decoration). Generosity like this is well-appreciated and rewarded with prisoners joining your colony. Note that the doors open towards the rest of the base (downwards).

Prison barracks

In the early game you can simply convert any existing ruins into a makeshift prison barracks, or build a simple prison hut which holds all the prisoners you capture. Try not to build it too far away from your main structures, otherwise it becomes harder to catch escaping prisoners.

You should include tables and chairs for prisoners to use.

Prison cells

Like colonists, prisoners will also suffer from the mood penalties associated with being kept together in a prison barracks. In addition, prison breaks are more serious should they happen, for every prisoner locked up in the same room will simultaneously break out, while prisoners in different cells may choose not to join. Thus, you should keep them separated.

Each cell should have a table with a chair, a bed, and a light source. This is the bare minimum you need for a prisoner to be decently kept. Decorating the cell and making them bigger also increase mood bonuses for easier recruitment. They can't use any joy items put in the cell, nor do they have a joy need, so don't bother with joy items other than for aesthetic purposes.

Prisons should have doors facing towards your base, so escaping prisoners will go towards your base instead of away, giving your wardens more time to deal with the break.

Holding cell

A larger cell with more beds. It should be only be used when your prison cells are overflowing. Put your less important prisoners inside them while assigning your more valuable prisoners into the cells.

Multipurpose rooms

These are more of an early to early-midgame thing that you can use before you get dedicated structures erected, such as hospitals or bigger prisons. Yet, these can still prove useful sometimes, like when your freezers or warehouses overflow, or you need somewhere to house an influx of injured or sick colonists.

This is rather simple; just make an empty room, along with suitable temperature control. You can add beds if you intend on someone living in it (be it colonists or prisoners), which you can uninstall and tuck away in a corner when unused

Backup

There are many types of ways you can set up buildings on your map to possibly save your colonists' lives in dire situations:

  • Shelters: Building small rooms with an emergency food and wood supply can save your colonists from enraged animals. Thick enough walls (at least 4 layers) can stop raiders from killing your colonists hiding inside.
  • Nutrient paste dispensers: When food is running low or you forecast that it will, a paste dispenser can significantly slow down food consumption by efficiently converting raw foods into nutrient paste.

Production

You will also need various buildings to produce or manufacture the stuff that your colonists need.

Crops

Sun lamp illuminating crops grown in hydroponics basins. With this configuration you can fit 24 basins under 1 sun lamp for a total of 96 plants grown.

See also: Food production

Crop fields

Crop fields are rather simple; just set up a growing zone, designate the desired plant type and growers will automatically go and grow the plants.

You need to check carefully the soil fertility before marking out your areas.

  • Gravel looks quite similar to dirt at first glance, but has a greatly reduced fertility meaning plants will grow slower.
  • Rich soil, on the other hand, is visibly darker and has improved fertility, making it suitable for long growing time plants such as devilstrand.

You will need to keep animals out, whether or not they are tamed. Exclude these areas out of the allowed areas of animals, and build walls to keep out wild animals.

Greenhouses

Enclosed areas that grow crops with the aid of temperature control, sun lamps and possibly hydroponics basins. They allow you to continue growing crops regardless of soil or weather conditions. Note that greenhouses are subject to power draining events like solar flares, knocking out lamps, heaters and hydroponics.

Mining

In early-midgame you just need to select mineral outcrops and designate them, and miners will proceed to dig out the minerals.

Later on, you can choose to continue mining through several means.

Strip mining

If you have more mountains or rocks which you can mine, you can strip mine them by mining out long tunnels with 2 tiles between each other. This allows you to cover everything in the mines.

Covering up your mine to prevent infestations is a good idea, using cheap materials such as wood it is possible to completely seal up the mines at a low cost. Alternatively, set up defenses at the mine entrance and just farm the insects.

Deep drills

After research you will unlock the deep drill and the ground-penetrating scanner for use.

It is not recommended to start deep drilling without an active scanner as you cannot see the locations of mineral locations this way and deep drills cannot be relocated.

Some deposits will be directly underneath your base. You can deconstruct or relocate buildings to give access to your drills. Be careful when you mine in colonists' bedrooms as they can easily disturb sleep.

Animals

Animals are an extremely useful asset to the colony if you can handle them (both in-game and performance-wise). They provide a variety of products, from raw food materials (meat, eggs or milk) for producing quality foods, to wool, which is an excellent insulator against both heat and cold. Moreover, they can be used in combat, as haulers, or as pack animals in a caravan.

Barn

Barns are necessary only if you're keeping some animals in places where temperatures can exceed their comfort, as animals don't mind sleeping in the open. In this case, a temperature-controlled barn is necessary to keep the animals comfy.

Building animal sleeping boxes or animal beds can help animals rest faster, though this doesn't really do much and is not cost efficient.

Chemfuel farming

Boomalopes are unique in the fact that they can produce chemfuel. This can be used to power generators, used as transport pod fuel or made into mortar shells.

Due to their explosive nature, they won't be attacked by predators, so you can let them roam freely without much danger. Keeping them confined is dangerous as the death of one boomalope can injure others, and if you don't intervene the other boomalopes will die, exploding and causing a chain reaction.

Workshop

Workshops are places where you put all your crafting stations and benches, probably including your cooking stoves as well. You should put them near your warehouse so your colonists can spend less time hauling the needed resources to the workshop for crafting. Also remember to put chairs of any sort at the interaction spot so your colonists won't have to keep standing while crafting.

The tool cabinet is handy for increasing productivity of your craftsmen, but you will need to allocate the positions of these carefully so as not to block colonists or future plans.

Putting all the crafting stations inside the warehouse isn't recommended despite the convenience, as colonists do not enjoy the sight of random objects laying around. This lowers their beauty opinion of their surroundings, in turn giving mood penalties. You should however put crafting materials near the workshop for quicker retrieval.

It is an excellent idea to put decorations such as sculptures inside the workshop, as a beautiful environment gives up to +15 mood, improving colonists' productivity and even allowing for the occasional mental inspiration.

Kitchen

You should build your kitchen near your cold storage and your dining room, just as you build the workshop near your warehouse.

Kitchens should only have cooking stoves, and sterile tiles for flooring to reduce the chance of food poisoning. The butcher table is best put elsewhere due to the heavy cleanliness debuff.

Shelves or small stockpiles can really improve cooking efficiency when placed right next to your stoves. Set one to accept berries and vegetables only, and the other to accept meals only the as these do not spoil in a matter of days, unlike meat which should always be in the freezer. Hauling colonists will do the transport work for your cooks instead.

Power

Solar power

Solar generators provide power only during the day. It provides 1700W, quite a decent figure, but still not to be fully relied on.

Wind power

Wind turbines provide unstable power throughout the day. It can provide up to 3000W, but it usually gives less than that.

It requires plenty of open space for maximum efficiency, and any obstacles can easily reduce efficiency. To prevent trees from growing and obstructing the turbines, put down floors, grow crops underneath the turbines or fill in the gaps with solar generators.

Fueled generation

You can get the wood-fired generator which runs on wood, or the chemfuel powered generator which runs on chemfuel, constantly providing 1000W of power. It is a good idea to have some of these as a backup power source, or even as your main source in biomes that are loaded with forests that will replenish themselves, such as in the tropics.

Chemfuel is significantly more efficient than wood, so once you research the refinery it's a better idea to refine wood into chemfuel before usage as fuel.

Boomalope setup

Boomalopes generate enough chemfuel to run 2 generators.

2 boomalopes give enough fuel to continuously power 5 generators for a total of 5000W. This is not taking into account any energy costs from growing food for use by the boomalopes.

Infinite chemreactor setup

Infinite chemreactors generate enough chemfuel to run a generator, which in turn generates more than enough power to run the chemreactor.

8 infinite chemreactors can generate enough fuel to power 15 generators, for a total surplus power of 12600W.

Geothermal power

Geothermal generators constantly gives 3600W of power after being built on a steam geyser without requiring fuel. It is an important source of power from mid-game onward, as it is constant and high-powered.

Research is required to unlock it, and the generator itself is quite costly so it's best left to midgame. However, once researched and built you can have a constant power supply, and with 5 generators on the map you can sustain a basic mid-sized colony.

Make sure your geothermal generators and their connecting conduits are well-protected as they often have to be placed far from base. Walling the generators helps protect them against raiders, but walling the conduits isn't recommended due to the cost and its hindrance on colonist field work. Be aware of the heat that the geysers release. If you closely wall and roof in a geothermal generator, the temperature inside will be quite high, high enough in fact to catch combustible building materials on fire. Consider removing the roofs on such buildings. However, if the vent is close to your base in a cold biome, consider attaching its building to your own base to help heat it.

It is possible to rush the research for geothermal power, though you should be careful not to neglect other more important research projects.

Power storage

You will need batteries to store power if you're using unstable power supplies such as wind or solar power. Batteries need to be kept under a roof to prevent short-circuits, and they should be protected from external threats, too. Connect them to the grid via switches, so you can shut off unneeded batteries to reduce the impact of short circuits.

Leave a 1-tile gap between adjacent groups of batteries so power does not flow between them and you can independently control connectivity.

Power network

It's not a good idea to have just 1 conduit spanning the entirety of your base. While it saves materials, short circuits or other events can cripple your power supply. Instead, build a network with redundant pathways so that the grid will continue to function even if there is a break somewhere in the network.

It is best to connect geothermal generators to other geothermal generators, so events such as wildfires and raider attacks won't easily disconnect them from your power network, causing severe power shortages.

Emergency power

Some events will cause you to lose power if you are unprepared. Some colonies rely on wind or solar power to power everything, and eventually every colony with electricity will suffer from a fault conduit explosion, also show as 'Zzzt...' Both cases will cause you to lose power, whether it's not enough wind or sun, or an explosion. Raider attacking and destroying power conduits connected to power generators can sever power from the colony, reducing the power available.

  • Backup batteries: Always have spare power stores, such as multiple battery systems with switches. Only connect extra when they are about to run out, or are charging.
  • Backup generators: Have some fueled generators that you bring online only if there's not enough power in the colony. This can allow your backup batteries to discharge slower, or even recharge. If they are turned off they will not consume fuel.

Vanometric power cell

A vanometric power cell constantly provides 1200W of power regardless of any condition, and can be placed anywhere. Obtaining it can be quite hard due to its rarity, even in the mid-late game, yet a constant, uninterrupted source of power is always valuable to any colony.

It can be used as a good starting power source when you are branching off to start a new colony.

Defenses

Main article: Defense structures
See also: Defense tactics

Unless you're playing on Peaceful difficulty, you will eventually encounter major threats, so you will need to prepare defenses for that.

The greatest advantage on your side is cover. While enemies are hiding behind rock chunks, you have sandbags and walls on your side, giving you a significant upper hand. You can even clear the rock chunks to force enemies behind trees which are less optimal a cover choice, widening the advantage.

You can also choose to build turrets if you have unlocked them. They are essential if you don't have enough colonists to defend against raids, most typically the start of the Rich Explorer scenario.

Temperature control

Room should have its temperature regulated by some method or another, so as to keep a comfortable temperature for colonists to live in, and protect them from extreme temperature conditions such as heat waves, cold snaps or simply the outdoors ambient temperature.

Large rooms such as your dining room or rec room should have their own heaters and coolers. If they are interconnected you may want to open doors for faster colonist access and temperature exchange. If you choose to do so, remember to close doors if a fire breaks out in the room.

Smaller rooms such as your bedrooms should be thermally connected to a larger central space through vents. Your heaters and coolers should be all placed outside the bedrooms. This reduces the number of heaters and coolers you need to build while keeping your bedrooms at a comfy temperature at the same time.

Keep in mind that you will also need to be prepared in case of a freak temperature event such as heat waves or cold snaps. Without enough temperature devices rooms can get uncomfortably cold or hot, and in severe cases begin to cause hypothermia or heatstroke.

Cooler gap prevention

As coolers need to be built as part of a wall, the process of building a cooler involves tearing down the original wall, then putting the cooler in place. This short interval allows temperature to go freely through the gap, which isn't something you want.

To fix this, you can plug the gap by building cheap wooden wall in front of or behind the cooler blueprint, then starting work on the cooler. The wooden wall will prevent temperatures from equalizing easily.
Remember to deconstruct the wall after the cooler is done.

Protected coolers

Coolers are very fragile, and a single explosion or dedicated effort from melee attackers can easily break them down. Protecting the coolers helps fortify your base against enemy raids by eliminating the weak points in your walls. This is done by walling the coolers off while giving it unroofed space in front of the hot end to vent away heat.

If your colony is in a cold but not quite freezing biome, consider venting the heat from the coolers for your freezer into your living spaces instead.

Cooler column

Have the hot end facing an unroofed area where the heat vents out into the open. That unroofed area can be placed within an existing structure, such as inside the freezer. For maximum spatial efficiency the strips of unroofed area should be 1 tile wide, surrounded by coolers.

Best used for freezers to keep cool as most cases don't call for that many coolers.

Temporary temperature control

If your regular heaters or coolers aren't doing the trick, there's a temporary power outage or you're a tribe without the ability to harness electricity yet, you can use campfires or passive coolers to heat or cool down your base respectively. Both have the same effect as their powered variants, except they are rather limited in their available temperature range: campfires can't heat above 30°C while passive coolers can't cool below 15°C. Also, their temperature effect is full and cannot be throttled. Depending on what gear your colonists are wearing, it's possible for them in a room being heated with campfires to complain about it being too hot.

These are best used to keep colonists comfortable during heat waves or cold snaps. If you always encounter uncomfortable temperatures during summer or winter then it's time to upgrade your heaters or cooler system.

Miscellaneous

Dirt floors

Until you have enough manpower to spare for cleaning jobs, instead of building any floors, use the terrain as the floors. Dirt trailed on constructed floors makes for a much worse beauty penalty than using dirt floors, so this can actually make your rooms look better.

However for places like hospitals it's better to use sterile tiles and manually clean them instead.

Flooring outside

To reduce the amount of dirt inside your colony buildings, put any kind of flooring covering places where colonists and animals frequently walk. This reduces the amount of dirt formed as well as causes dirt to be left outside where it does not look as bad.

This should obviously be done only if you have enough janitors, otherwise it's better to just not build any floors (see above).

Moisture pumps

Moisture pumps clear out moisture from the ground around them, making dry land suitable for construction and agriculture. They are excellent in swamp biomes for clearing out shallow water, marshy soil and mud in order to build structures. Their effect is permanent, so they can safely be deconstructed once the land you want to use is dry. Note that shallow water will be converted to gravel, which only has 70% fertility. Still, this can be the only way to farm in ground outdoors in biomes like Ice Sheet and Sea Ice.

Guides
Progression
Quickstart Guides • Basics • Intermediate Midgame Guide • Advanced Endgame Guide • Ending the game
Scenarios
Lost Tribe Guide • Rich Explorer Guide • Naked Brutality Guide • The Mechanitor GuideContent added by the Biotech DLC
Survival
Extreme Heat Guide • Extreme Cold Guide • Extreme Desert Guide • Ice Sheet Guide • Sea Ice Guide • Events Guide
Combat
Defense tactics • Offense tactics • Weapon Guide
Construction
Colony Building Guide • Defense structures
Production
Food production • Money making guide
Other
Skill Training • Permadeath save conversion guide •
Ideology Min-Maxing Content added by the Ideology DLC

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