Should reed fiber be a high tech resource?

[Sasza22]

For now it seems like it is one. The lack of it forces us to use the gas masks which is ok at this point. But the fiber outside atmo suit construction is used mostly for decor purposes which are hardly late game. Another thing is that one you get a single thimble reed seed or a single drecko/egg you basially have infinite amounts of fiber after a while. This requires you to just find one single thing to unlock a powerful lategame item.

I don`t think it`s the best way for it to work. Instead of gating reed fiber sources behind distant planets i think the atmo suit recipie should be addjustd instead. Just make it require plastic. Oil tech is already semi lategame and we could just put dreckos further away and keep thimble reed for decor available right away. It would also make sense as metal and fiber aren`t really things you make a transparent bowl out of.

[ZombieDupe]

Atmo suits early in the game seems a bit too powerful and you should really use the gas masks. But having access to some suits mid game sounds fair. I don' think reed fibre should be as rare as it is at the moment in the current DLC map, the caustic areas in your starting asteroid should really contain dreckos. At the same time, atmo suits should require some more rare resources to make, like glass, since the helmet part appears to be made from that. Refining some first bits of glass for suits in a cold biome without suits on sounds like something you could do already.

[Gurgel]

Actually, I found you probably can do without masks. For example, I did run a complete surface telescope run entirely on a dupe holding its breath. Probably slowed things to 70% research speed or so, but worked without a problem. The real advantage of the suits is the heat-tolerance they bring. 

[Steve8]

10 minutes ago, Gurgel said:

For example, I did run a complete surface telescope run entirely on a dupe holding its breath.

Or you can just build an enclosure around it. It doesn't even need to be glass.

 

With the reed fiber, I'll wait until we've seen the other starting asteroids to make a judgment. Presumably there will also be a Terra-like starting asteroid that has slime biomes. So it's not an issue there. That different asteroids require a slightly different playstyle is fine. The base game also has asteroids that lack certain things which make life much easier.

[misotoma]

Apparently there's a free atmo suit thrown in there.. that makes up for EVERYTHING lol.. you really just need one and then sit back and watch the exponential growth.. also the way it is built now actually makes it more entertaining. I personally prefer the way it is in the DLC now. 

[psusi]

What if they just changed the atmo suit skill to actually be required instead of just negating the movement penalty?

[misotoma]

3 minutes ago, psusi said:

What if they just changed the atmo suit skill to actually be required instead of just negating the movement penalty?

well the gas masks already do that.. if you were in a chlorine environment you won't be holding breath but because of irritation you'd be -4 athletics. At least you won't be scalded but maybe it's best to leave it as it is for now. It allows for any dupe to be productive in a just in case scenario instead of skill scrubbing all the time lol

[psusi]

Just now, misotoma said:

well the gas masks already do that.. if you were in a chlorine environment you won't be holding breath but because of irritation you'd be -4 athletics. At least you won't be scalded but maybe it's best to leave it as it is for now. It allows for any dupe to be productive in a just in case scenario instead of skill scrubbing all the time lol

Huh?  As it stands, you just can't get atmo suits until you visit other words to get reed fiber.  That seems like a silly thing to gate them behind.  Rather than make them unobtainable, if Klei wants to make them not so easy, do it another way, like making it require the skill.  As it is, once you get the reed fiber, it using an atmo suit is better than a mask, even without training the skill, at least if you plan on going into chlorine.  With the skill, it is hands down better than masks outside of chlorine, and arguably still better in all cases.  I feel like they are intended for use in extreme temperatures rather than just for going into non oxygen environments, and the skill requirement would be a step towards making it a decent trade off between mask and atmo suit rather than simply gating it behind reed fiber.

[Gurgel]

1 hour ago, Steve8 said:

Or you can just build an enclosure around it. It doesn't even need to be glass.

I tried that. Did not work. There probably is some trick to it, but it worked too well just open to space for me to experiment any further.

[Steve8]

2 hours ago, Gurgel said:

I tried that. Did not work. There probably is some trick to it

It works. The telescope points top left. So you can't have something else blocking that area I think. Especially not natural tiles. But otherwise it works through built tiles

[chemie]

11 hours ago, Gurgel said:

Actually, I found you probably can do without masks. For example, I did run a complete surface telescope run entirely on a dupe holding its breath. Probably slowed things to 70% research speed or so, but worked without a problem. The real advantage of the suits is the heat-tolerance they bring. 

Yup.  I just oxygenate the map and hold breath in space.  Easier than the masks.  Of course, my oil biome is 350C and that does need atmosuits if only I needed the oil.

[misotoma]

12 hours ago, Steve8 said:

Or you can just build an enclosure around it. It doesn't even need to be glass.

this is partially correct.. you can wall in the telescope if you want but it has to be built in Space Exposure tiles.

Meaning you can't build it below the space biome line.. once up there you can put drywall and enclose the telescope and pressurize it with o2

It says it on the tooltip somewhere hidden

[nonchalant86]

A Drecko sometimes spawns on the warp asteroid in the rust biome. This makes the intent unclear. Also, without early reed fiber, the useless cool vest and warm sweater become even more useless.

There could be other ways to delay access to atmosuits that don't involve hiding reed fiber. The recent change to the requirements of the exosuit training skill seems like this type of effort. 

[ddoc]

the free atmo suit is in the crashed rocket + 2 morbs 

[Gurgel]

2 hours ago, misotoma said:

this is partially correct.. you can wall in the telescope if you want but it has to be built in Space Exposure tiles.

Meaning you can't build it below the space biome line.. once up there you can put drywall and enclose the telescope and pressurize it with o2

It says it on the tooltip somewhere hidden

Ah, so that is the trick. Thanks. Probably not that much faster overall, given that it requires a lot more dupe labor.

Anyone OCD enough to make a measurement?