just starting out

[leitem82]

this is my first game like this and i like it and want to play it but it seems very overwhelming any suggestions . except take it slow lol. i have started over 3 times .

[JRup]

1 hour ago, leitem82 said:

take it slow

This is the standard advice. Don't be afraid to hit pause and see what's going on.

Everything has "a system" so to speak. And your build menus will grow the further you play things out. Get familiar with those and your gameplay will speed up and get better with time.

The usual first cycles are rather enjoyable and "carefree" as each need nudges you to go further into the game:

First is B&B. For beds you'll find out that you need to build them so that pushes you to mining. Then for bathrooms & washbins you'll need dirt and water for the upkeep of said buildings.

By then you'll see the need for air, the mineral that is provided in the little cave your dupes are in has been turning into air and will run out. But there's no rush, yet.

Once you've done B&B more things will be unblocked for the progression of the game.

So, here's the question: where are you getting stranded? Forum dwellers here will definitely give you ideas if you have a more specific situation you're struggling with.

[Yobbo]

First make sure you have enough food. Then make sure you have enough air.

So long as you have enough food and air, you can solve problems one at a time as they arise.

At the start you get food and air by using up limited resources (dirt, algae and water). The search for more resources so you can keep making food and air leads, bit by bit, to pretty much everything else.

[gabberworld]

first thing first. dig some materials

after that build toilet, without that it goes messy, then the beds.

when that is done you need start think about 2  things food and oxygen.

--

those probaply common things what beginner not know

 

 

[Oxygenbreather]

I think the main thing is, failing isn't so bad. People nowadays often expect games to be designed that way, they "succeed" right away.

One pretty contraintuative thing: at the bottom of your base is a CO2 trap where the CO2 will start to accumulate. Put your food box there, to keep it fresh without need of power like the refridgerator. 

[Hokaeru]

I would suggest : read about basic mechanics (pipe, temperature exchange, plants and critters management, how storage works). 
What I would NOT recommand, is to read about builds (perfect petroleum boiler, infinite kitchen etc.)

Because not understanding why your water goes in the wrong way in your pipes is just somehow frustrating when the game does not explain it to you. 
However, it is very fun to build a contraption that you are very proud of, and then realize that it just explodes in 3 minutes tops. 
Once you know the answer to a riddle, you can not unknow it. 

You have a lot a creativity and great ideas when you start the game, it doesn't matter if you start over because you will make alot of progress and it will feel nice to look at your old colony and say "oh wow I am so much better now"

Read a lot of the ingame database (the book icon), it helps a lot.
Also the tip that saved my games : 
- In the priorities screen, there is a "hidden option" : enable proximity, I use this. 
- You have to put your OCD aside, and let debris around the place, otherwise your dupes will take ages to put that in bins 
- Make one project at a time, verify if it works, then you can move on. 
- Be careful with any errand that can take your dupes time, watch them carefully, for instance if you don't put "sweep only" on a bin, they will try to get EVERY material with this name. It can make them run around the whole planet and even die for this.

Enjoy

[babba]

Don`t stop laying pipe.

5 hours ago, leitem82 said:

this is my first game like this and i like it and want to play it but it seems very overwhelming any suggestions . except take it slow lol. i have started over 3 times .

 

[SharraShimada]

There are only 2 approaches to this game.

1. struggle your way to success, gain knowledge an a lot of bruises on the way, but take all the fun too.

2. watch hours after hours of youtube-tutorials, miss all the fun.

[Gurgel]

7 hours ago, leitem82 said:

this is my first game like this and i like it and want to play it but it seems very overwhelming any suggestions . except take it slow lol. i have started over 3 times .

You are on a good path. Starting over when getting into it is part of the design. Eventually you figure a few things out and then you get long-term survival. 

[goboking]

Here are the tips I'd offer any new player.

• Don't expand your colony's duplicant count unless you're sure you're producing enough food and oxygen to sustain them.
• Focus on immediate needs like food and water before you worry about long term goals like finding renewable sources of water.
• Heat is a silent killer.  Build your industrial machinery and power generators away from your farms lest the heat stifle your crops.  You'll eventually learn how to tackle climate control, but don't sweat it until you've got a grasp on the basics.
• Don't be afraid to fail.  A colony starving to death isn't a failure, it's an opportunity to learn about the importance of food production.  That's knowledge gained that will make your next colony more resilient.
• Don't copy other peoples' designs.  Read up on various mechanics, but don't mindlessly copy and paste a min-maxed build you saw online.  Learning how something works gives you the freedom to devise your own builds and allows you to redress problems that may arise if you do decide to copy someone else's.
• Use the priority screen to ensure your general labor isn't preventing your specialists from cooking, researching, etc.

[Lacero]

take every dupe the printer offers you.  build gravestones near the mistake that killed them.  when you lose you know what you need to focus on next game, it's the thing with the most gravestones.
This is measurement based management and is very professional.

[Yunru]

Hamster Wheels are not only renewable power, they make your dupes faster and better at using machinery, embrace the hamster wheel. 

[goboking]

One more tip new players might find useful.

• Piping can have a single output (green) feeding multiple inputs (white) or multiple outputs feeding a single input, but you're going to run into trouble if you've got multiple outputs and multiple inputs on the same line.

[n_t_p]

19 hours ago, goboking said:

One more tip new players might find useful.

• Piping can have a single output (green) feeding multiple inputs (white) or multiple outputs feeding a single input, but you're going to run into trouble if you've got multiple outputs and multiple inputs on the same line.

To elaborate on this, if you do end up with a situation where you have multiple inputs and outputs you can break it up using bridges. Replacing each split in the line and adding a bridge is a good way to fix problems with resource packets going in the wrong directions or not going where you want them too.