What's the optimal plug slug starvation farm now?

[ghkbrew]

Plug slugs got a hard nerf, recently, now that their power output scales with their calories. But it is still possible to get power out of a starvation farm, since they begin life with a reserve of calories.

I'm thinking that the optimum way to starvation farm them now is to leave them ungroomed for the first few days of life to decrease their metabolism and maintain a high power output. Then to start grooming them so they starve to death just after laying an egg.

Has anyone tested or done the math for power output of a starvation farm?

[goboking]

Dear Klei,

Please get rid of starvation farming.  Thanks.

Sincerely, a fan.

[zach123b]

just don't groom them and feed them, thats 12kg/cycle of metal ore for 120kj or 200w average.  if wild, that's 15kg/cycle for the same power.  if you groom them just once, you'll get a second egg for their 100 cycle lifespan.  you get 5% mass as hydrogen too but that's only enough for 6 seconds of a hydrogen generator if tame/glum so 2.4kj more.  that 12kg/cycle would be much better suited to a generator late game though

let me test a starvation farm for late game though.  otherwise, plug slugs have no use mid game on imo

[blash365]

17 hours ago, goboking said:

Dear Klei,

Please get rid of starvation farming.  Thanks.

Sincerely, a fan.

This.

 

Also please make sure that critters dont simply go extinct under "wildlife" conditions. I tamed a few plug slugs, bred about 7 of them and left them in a room for a good while. In the past i fed them a bit of metal every now and then, but since i didnt require them for power at some point, i stopped feeding them (and did not groom them). Now the pen is empty. That should not happen.

[zach123b]

so they start with about 9000kcal and burn 2000kcal a day.  reproduce at 2%+15%

grooming, they starve at cycle 10 and die at cycle 20.  they produce about 300kj their life and don't produce an egg, they die at about 95% reproduction.  you could feed them a gram of ore to reset the death timer for another 2-3cycles to produce an egg but not true starvation ranching

glum, they starve around 27.5cycles and die at around 37.5cycles.  then they have about 60% reproduction.  they produce about 10 times more kj being glum.  still about 1,800kj.  about 40-50 kj/cycle per plug slug

either way, you have to feed them a little to survive/not starve to keep them alive/reproducing. how far you stretch it is up to you.  but for a couple kg you could get 80-100kj/cycle.  that is though about 40-80w generation per plug slug.

imho it's too much hassle for so little to starvation ranch these things at a profit.  just set up a wild arbor tree farm and do tune ups on the petroleum generators.  hell, a drecko plastic ranch sour gas boiler would do better for no resource power.  just get wild mealwood for a breeding room then starvation ranch the rest

[Dragondevo]

I personally think the plug slug nerf was too much.  Before they did make power early game too easy, but now they are practically useless for the resources they require.

[Joe Mucchiello]

6 hours ago, Dragondevo said:

I personally think the plug slug nerf was too much.  Before they did make power early game too easy, but now they are practically useless for the resources they require.

The food requirements being an ore is the real kicker. Unless ore volcanos become a thing.

[psusi]

Personally, I have never understood why everything in the game that accepts ore does not also accept the refined metal as well.

[Red Shark]

If Splugs eat refined metals, they become an interesting alternative to Microchip manufacture!

Less power (on average, probably), but meat & extra hydrogen.

[Ultimate905]

On 12/1/2020 at 4:22 AM, Red Shark said:

If Splugs eat refined metals, they become an interesting alternative to Microchip manufacture!

Less power (on average, probably), but meat & extra hydrogen.

at the very least add a morph of the plug slugs that can eat refined metals

[Cybeon]

18 hours ago, Ultimate905 said:

at the very least add a morph of the plug slugs that can eat refined metals

That what I would really like to see. Maybe even more morphs producing different substances as a byproduct instead of hydrogen depending on their diet.