Help a bad ONI player get better

[pacuegg]

I always start out a new game the same way, and it always ends up going bad.

I don't want to micromanage every action the Duplicants take, but it seems the only way to get them to work efficiently. So here's what I do, please tell me where I go wrong (and how to fix?)

1. I start a new game with 1 "digger" and 1 "builder", and 1 .. something else.
2. I then want to go into space so I build a Ladder up to space, or maybe down.
3. The builder will come over and put some material in place for the Ladder.
4. The digger will then come and dig out the tile.
5. Then the builder will return and actually build the Ladder.
6. Then someone else will come and supply more material for the next Ladder segment.
7. This all repeats in a horribly inefficient loop, and the bigger the base, the worse it gets.
8. Each Ladder segment requires 3 actions, and the Duplicants run all over the base between each action.
9. Inevitable one of the critical Duplicants will decide to operate a Manual Generator and that's the end of the Ladder for the Cycle.

Again, I don't want to micro-manage the entire building of the Ladder, but is there any other to effectively solve this?

[sheaker]

You can try to 'enable proximities' in priorities menu, on the top right under the gear.
But in general I am facing the same issue. Sometimes it is good to lock your duplicants for a while to let them finish all available task in that area before moving to, ie. store gold or bleach stone.

[Pyrex042]

You can reduce this a bit by going with dupes that are prioritized for more than one job.

As you note, building a ladder in a solid tile is three tasks, dig/supply/build.  If one of your dupes is good at two of those, you have less churn.

Alternately, if you dig your shaft three tiles wide for better airflow, your digger will stay busy.

[catlvrjrygrcia]

1 hour ago, sheaker said:

You can try to 'enable proximities' in priorities menu, on the top right under the gear.
But in general I am facing the same issue. Sometimes it is good to lock your duplicants for a while to let them finish all available task in that area before moving to, ie. store gold or bleach stone.

Yeah I pretty much have learned to set smaller task chunks for the Dupes to focus on before giving them a bit to do other maintenance tasks and such.

[Occam Blazer]

Build ladders out of material that is nearby.

Use a door to prohibit other dupes from helping and/or prevent your builder dupe from leaving the construction area until their shift is over.

Give your builder a higher priority for building and supplying.

[mathmanican]

Dig out everything first with an S pattern. The return later and build ladders.

https://amp.reddit.com/r/Oxygennotincluded/comments/cjtl8z/psa_when_digging_down_or_up_dig_in_an_s_pattern/

[2tallyGr8]

4 hours ago, pacuegg said:

1. I start a new game with 1 "digger" and 1 "builder", and 1 .. something else.

RESEARCHER. It is never a good idea to not have one of your dupes have an interest in researching. I always have a dig-builder, a researcher, and a farmer/rancher/chef for my starting crew.

[clickrush]

* Never turn off supply/storage on your dupes, regardless of their primary role.

* Digging specialists should never have digging as a higher prio than building. They can easily get stuck otherwise.

* Building specialists should have digging as their second highest prio for a smooth experience.

* Also I recommend you always have multiple tasks or a large set of orders that can be worked at simultaneously. That way it gets increasingly likely that your dupes will do what they do best.

[babba]

@pacuegg Any surviving player is a good player 

[Majestix]

What mathmanican said. The point is that onceyou have dug out this pattern, the supplier can supply materials to the entire ladder. Then the builder comes over and builds the whole ladder in one go. It's very fast that way.

[AncientGammoner]

I use the strategy (that I think I first saw on a Francis John video) where you have two major categories of dupes, build/diggers (that have building/digging as high priority) and non-build/diggers (which have their specialty prioritized and build/digging as low priority).  It works well.

[MachineryMan]

On 2/21/2021 at 9:42 PM, pacuegg said:

I start a new game with 1 "digger" and 1 "builder", and 1 .. something else.

Look, there may be a better way than mine, but at least mine works somehow. Your problem won't always be solved perfectly, but it will be solved acceptably.

1. you don't need a digger and a builder as starter dudes. And in general, it's better to choose a double major. My option is this:
- Digger/Builder (good when he has a preference for building or wearing suits in addition to digging). He digs and builds. In his spare time, he carries weights or works with machinery.
- Scientist/Cook. Must necessarily have a preference for science. Cooking can be taken without preference. This dude doesn't do a damn thing after cycle 10, just cook and study. In his spare time, carries weights and works with machinery.
- Farmer/Rancher. Must have Husbandry in preference if you end up eating meat, or Agriculture if grass. Need the guy to quickly pump up the second level of Husbandry and start dragging beasts. Until then, he has a supporting role. It's not bad if he has Improved Carrying in his preferences. In my mind, agriculture in general is quite a useless skill, so I take the rancher. The point is that the amount of plants grows gradually, and the growth of skill is proportional to it. I've never yet encountered a situation where a dude couldn't handle a seedbed, no matter what kind of agriculture skill he had.

2. Next, you need to set priority almost immediately. I suggest you try this option:

 

Spoiler

 

(Heavydrill means Digger/Builder, Ph.D - Scientist/Cook (I have a different cook now, so I removed the priority), Hunter - Rancher/Farmer)

Speaking specifically about the subject of construction and digging, this prioritization works in practice as follows. No one digs but diggers . Everyone else is allowed to dig only for the purpose of building something on the site. A digger when building, for example, a ladder in the thickness of the soil, behaves as follows:
1. He brings the material for the ladder.
2. Excavates the construction site.
3. Builds the ladder. 
4. If there is another ladder block to be built and there is ladder material nearby, picks up the material and returns to step 1. 
5. If there is no material, but there are digging tasks nearby, starts digging until he digs all the given squares or finds material for the ladder.

Hence rule #1: build ladders from material that is plentiful in the biome being dug up.

The rest of the dudes (in the absence of other things to do) behave like this: 

1. Bring the material for the ladder.
2. If the digger did not immediately excavate a square for them and they can dig it themselves, dig a square - build a ladder.
3. If they can't dig a square, they run for the next portion of material for another stair segment. In this case, as a rule, the digger himself is engaged in digging and does not run for material (except when the material is scattered around)
4. After delivering the material, the digger can usually interrupt to finish the ladder.
5. If there are no tasks to deliver material (all stairs are supplied with material or there are no available constructions) they help a little with the digging.

Hence rule #2: Place the ladder so that as many segments as possible are available for supply. For example, like this:

Spoiler

 

Building up

Building down (The ladder is installed after the excavation)

 

Of course, it doesn't insure against idiocy entirely, but it works more often than not. I hope this helps.