Proper air lock door and solid visco gel tile!

[ZombieDupe]

I know this has been mentioned before but we keep getting updates without this feature in place. I envision a door, much like this mod, but could even be 1x2 size, which could pump gasses and liquids really quickly but require lots of power, even 960w per door, higher up in the research tree would be cool with me. So sick of making liquid locks, something that just looks like an exploit even though more proper solutions are too slow and over-engineered.

I even came up with one myself, but it's not reasonable to use it when it takes up so much space and is really only ok for 1 duplicant to use in one direction, meaning I would need dozens of these set to go one-way only with a massive bottle-neck to the atmo suit docks. That or I use liquid locks. Please, just implement something like the aforementioned mod, that and changing the melting/boiling points of visco gel, and making the plastic tile you make out of it something duplicants can walk through as that would be an awesome solid and easy gel tile lock that you can make so late into the game.

[Sasza22]

I`d love if the visco gel could be used to construct a special airlock building that just blocks everything except dupes. Something like the gates to the Gungan city in Star Wars. If it was half visco and half steel for example it could have the steel properties so it wouldn`t freeze or melt and you could build it horizontally.

It might also be the time to implement a plastic/steel airlock that just blocks gas transfer. With the advanced material cost a high power cost 240W or higher and an opening time similar to the manual airlock it would be balanced but still slow enough for people to explore other ideas.

[ZombieDupe]

Given the direction of half of the new content, I'm starting to think this either will never get added because Klei doesn't care for it all that much, despite the fact that this type of suggestion is pretty up there and has been mentioned multiple times by multiple people, or they'll decide fine, we'll add it in like 5-years time when we feel like it, like they did with demolishing annoying POI buildings. In the meantime I guess I have decorative and sentimental buildings to use and look at like a snazzy suit reskin tool or creating sleeping as a task for useless duplicants so other duplicants can be more productive or something... why were these things prioritized over stuff like this again?

[Sasza22]

7 hours ago, ZombieDupe said:

why were these things prioritized over stuff like this again?

It`s the "wow" factor. The average player doesn`t care about random airlock improvements when there are mods to handle that. Instead they want some exciting and fun stuff with cool graphics. That`s what they provide. Kinda sad but that`s how you get attention.

Still they are adding a lot of the requested stuff along the way so we shouldn`t lose hope we get insulated airlocks and buildable viso locks.

[ZombieDupe]

17 hours ago, Sasza22 said:

It`s the "wow" factor. The average player doesn`t care about random airlock improvements when there are mods to handle that. Instead they want some exciting and fun stuff with cool graphics. That`s what they provide. Kinda sad but that`s how you get attention.

Still they are adding a lot of the requested stuff along the way so we shouldn`t lose hope we get insulated airlocks and buildable viso locks.

The average player doesn't play this game. Anyone who would qualify as that and still stick to it will reach a dead end at 200 cycles in vanilla game, there is no room for decorating suits you can't even manufacture because you have no reed fiber or the dupe time and labor when your colony is dying. You either stop playing at around 200 cycles, primarily because of heat problems or you play long enough to look up a guide, that's pretty much a fact at this point. Low chance you maybe stumble upon or decide to play on rime and ACTUALLY get to space for the first time, I know that's how I got there and discovered more things for myself and I have seen one other lets-play accomplish that.

Unless you have the DLC before ever playing the game for the first time because of the guaranteed slush geysers, but the average player will not have the DLC at that point, they will ask if it's even worth having the DLC in addition to the game (have seen several instances of this on steam forums). By the unaware, it's treated as an extension, not a prerequisite, as it should be. Unless there's something the programming team is hard at work on while they have the art team do a bunch of assets for this sort of stuff, then this is precisely why these features being priority does not make sense. I can already foresee that, if this were some sort of attempt to find more new players to bring into the game, it would be, and probably already is, a catastrophic failure, it doesn't make sense. I doubt that it even is however, because if it were, there would be update trailers for this sort of thing, something Klei has done with DST but since the game is terribly designed on multiple fronts, it's more just flair for existing players. If anything it's just something extra for existing players, but since most of us here played for stuff like the culmination of the gas/liquid physics and thermodynamics systems, that rebukes any purpose for it completely, rendering such features a vanity project.

There is utility to that dream reading machine for example though there are plenty other more realistic new mechanics they could introduce instead that would be far more interesting in the place of this. Or if they're looking for something more science fiction like I've pointed out several other mechanics they could take a look at which would be much more fun than this, but again, there are more important things to take care of, now is really not the time for adding flair to the game. Features I've pointed out would literally save the game if it were reannounced and advertised more afterwards to the public. No amount of sponsoring is going to save a game with critical gameplay loop flaws like this. This game is so close, yet so far from perfection and recognition it deserves because of this.

[Sasza22]

On 9/19/2022 at 5:00 PM, ZombieDupe said:

The average player doesn't play this game. Anyone who would qualify as that and still stick to it will reach a dead end at 200 cycles in vanilla game, there is no room for decorating suits you can't even manufacture because you have no reed fiber or the dupe time and labor when your colony is dying.

It`s not that bad. I`m pretty sure new players come in now and then. It would be pretty bad news if only old experienced players played ONI. An average player probably won`t reach the late game or won`t come close to creating a stabile long term base but he will play long enough to have fun.

On certain maps you will find a lot of wild reed fiber and ranching a few dreckos isn`t that hard either. Getting your colony to survive the first 100-200 cycles isn`t too challenging and i`m sure some players will find time to play with the suits and other decorative stuff before they run out of resources or heat destroys their food source. And yes some of them might consider buying the dlc without beating the base game.

Anyway people keep asking for more stuff to do. We love to design our bases but after a while we need a purpose to design them. While the new stuff doesn`t look like something you will have to design around it might become something like that eventually. Atm it`s an extra task you can do for a bonus. Maybe the future stuff will require more complex problem solving to activate while still being something that attracts attention.

[fullerfamily]

I am with OP. Please give me a simple airlock. The game solution of dipping through pools of water is ugly, illogical, and annoying. It is easily my least favorite part of base building. If not an airlock, then perhaps a piece of equipment that makes airlock construction a little simpler.

I guess my only other "really want" would be something to do with all the extra skill points.

The other 98%...love it!

[Unfawkable]

I cannot emphasize enough how much I need something like this, though ever since I found the mod you mentioned my soul hurts a tad bit less. Water locks make me wanna puke.

[CarLNX]

So it doesn't make much sense not to have the airlock. We know there is a mod for it, but it should be an advanced item in the game by default, as it becomes crucial for a good base. I know mods are a way to play the way we want, but I generally prefer to play without mods... as the developers themselves do a great job on this beautiful game.

[beeper]

What about transit tube? Sure they are big and bulky and they will melt if it is too hot, but I like the fact that most buildings have a drawback.

[ZombieDupe]

On 10/3/2022 at 3:23 PM, beeper said:

What about transit tube? Sure they are big and bulky and they will melt if it is too hot, but I like the fact that most buildings have a drawback.

Duplicants will get stuck more easily in case of a power outage. The fact liquid locks accomplish what these buildings can without power and can do it with interior temperature of up to 540C (petroleum) and as low as -114C (ethanol) without necessarily going to space, transit tubes aren't a contest in terms of high end temperatures. Also the entrances are too big, but worst of all, they have an internal battery that requires time to charge instead of just drawing the power when needed, which is annoying and can get duplicants stuck very easily or build more entrances, taking up even more space. With an airlock door like mentioned before, you could set up a system where you can let a duplicant out regardless if there is no power, maybe just without gas getting through and it would make it absolutely clear for what it is used for and could potentially go almost up to 1000C, or near the point where duplicants will scald regardless, if the airlock is made of refined metal only. But yes, the low tube melting point of 160C is the biggest issue. Having industrial saunas that go higher than that is sometimes unavoidable and entrance to volcano tamers is an absolute no for this unless you stretch them long and put extremely heavy focus on keeping the temperatures near the entrances low. All that hassle and for what? If your duplicants are gonna have to spend time entering and exiting through a passage that will take more time than walking with no lock system in place anyway, a liquid lock is just the better all round solution. It doesn't help that the more apparent use for the tubes is quick all-round travel (though usually they suck even for that) instead of using them as an air lock of sorts anyway.

And solid tiles you can pass through instead of a viscous liquid that may break because of a small spill is no contest.