Oxygen Not Included: Beginners Tutorial, Tips, and Tricks!

Summary

Max, the Catfish, offers 20 essential beginner tips for mastering *Oxygen Not Included*. Aimed at new players and those returning after a break, these tips cover key strategies for survival in the early game. Topics include choosing the right difficulty, selecting your first duplicants, managing basic resources like food, oxygen, and power, and expanding your base. Max also advises on handling stress, the importance of strategic planning, and when to restart a colony. With clear, spoiler-free advice, this guide helps players build a strong foundation for their first 100 cycles in the game.

Takeaways

• 😀 Start on 'No Sweat' difficulty to make the game more beginner-friendly, with less food and oxygen consumption by duplicants.
• 😀 Choose the Terra biome for your first colony, as it offers plenty of resources like water and food, making it easier for beginners.
• 😀 Pick duplicants with skills in digging, building, mechanizing, and researching, and avoid negative traits like 'mouth breather' or 'slow learner' to ensure faster progress.
• 😀 Focus on the essentials early in the game: Bathrooms, Bedrooms, Oxygen, Research, and Food (Bubble-PORF). These are crucial for surviving the first 100 cycles.
• 😀 Set up bathrooms with at least 2-3 outhouses and wash basins to prevent germs. Position sinks so duplicants wash hands after using toilets but not waste water unnecessarily.
• 😀 Ensure bedrooms are well oxygenated, dark, and quiet. Keep shine bugs away to avoid disturbing sleep, and manage loud sleeper duplicants by giving them separate rooms.
• 😀 Always add a battery to your manual generator setup to store energy and prevent duplicants from running on the treadmill endlessly.
• 😀 Be mindful of oxygen distribution in your base. Avoid over-building oxygenators early to conserve resources like algae, and manage oxygen levels to prevent suffocation.
• 😀 Use a microbe musher or grill to convert raw food into better meals for your duplicants. Be sure to place wash basins in kitchens to prevent food poisoning.
• 😀 Don’t rush into critter ranching. Focus on mastering the game’s basics first before expanding into more complex systems like critter management.
• 😀 Store food in ration boxes in a carbon dioxide environment to slow spoilage. This is a good temporary solution until you establish a more stable food supply.

Q & A

Why is it okay to start the game on 'No Sweat' difficulty?

Starting on 'No Sweat' makes the game easier by giving your duplicants more resilience to disease, reducing their food requirements, and making them easier to please. This allows beginners to focus on learning the core mechanics without being overwhelmed by resource management.

What biome is recommended for beginners, and why?

The Terra biome is the best choice for beginners because it provides plenty of water and food, allowing players to focus on learning the game's mechanics without scrambling for resources. It offers a good balance and a manageable start.

What are the essential roles to pick when starting with duplicants?

It's recommended to start with a dedicated digger, builder, mechanic, and researcher. These roles provide a strong foundation for base construction, resource gathering, and technological advancement, crucial for progressing in the early stages of the game.

What negative traits should you avoid when selecting starting duplicants?

You should avoid traits like 'Mouth Breather' (which wastes oxygen) and 'Bottomless Stomach' (which consumes more food). Other traits to avoid include 'Anemic', 'Narcoleptic', 'Slow Learner', and 'Allergies', as they can significantly hinder your duplicants' performance in the early game.

Why is it important to build bathrooms with wash basins?

Wash basins prevent the spread of germs and food poisoning by ensuring duplicants wash their hands after using the toilet. To optimize this, place toilets behind the sinks, and set the sinks to be used in one direction to avoid unnecessary water wastage.

How should you set up duplicants' bedrooms for optimal sleep?

Place bedrooms in areas with good oxygen levels, away from carbon dioxide. Ensure the space is dark enough to avoid disruptions from shine bugs and avoid placing multiple duplicants with the 'Loud Sleeper' trait near each other to prevent waking others up.

What’s the importance of adding a battery to the power setup?

Adding a battery to your power system ensures that energy produced by manual generators is stored for later use. Without a battery, duplicants will waste time running on the treadmill, and power will be used inefficiently, hindering overall base progress.

How do you manage oxygen production in the early game?

Distribute oxygenators evenly across your base and avoid overproducing oxygen early on. Focus on building only the necessary amount of oxygenators, algae terrariums, or coal generators as needed to avoid depleting valuable resources like algae.

What’s the best way to prevent food spoilage early on?

To prevent food spoilage, place a ration box in a CO2 environment, such as a CO2 trap. CO2 naturally slows the decay of food, giving you more time to set up a stable food production system in your colony.

What should you consider before printing more duplicants?

Be cautious about printing too many duplicants early on, as each duplicant requires food and oxygen. Printing too many can overwhelm your resources and hinder your ability to sustain the colony. It’s often better to take non-duplicate rewards like food or materials instead.

How can you avoid accidents when digging around certain materials?

Be mindful when digging under sand, mud, or water, as these materials can fall and trap duplicants or flood areas. To safely dig around water, build a basin around your water sources to prevent spills or contamination with non-potable liquids.

What is the role of oxalite in oxygen production?

Oxalite provides a temporary source of clean oxygen until it decays. It's important not to dig up oxalite prematurely because it produces oxygen over time, and disturbing it too early results in only half of the oxygen it could provide. Let it decay naturally to maximize its use.