Challenge: Blasted Ceres on Maximum Difficulty

[M3mory]

I'm attempting a speedrun on the highest difficulty in the base game after the recent DLC updates. My best record so far is 125 cycles to complete all achievements on Aridio, except for One Year To Be Exact (which requires 365 cycles) and Sweet Home Sweet (which takes 200 cycles).

However, on the Blasted Ceres map, the Critter Whisperer achievement is impossible to complete because the required critters don't exist on this map.

I've set all difficulty options to the hardest and aim to complete every achievement. For time-dependent achievements like Sweet Home Sweet, I ensure that all required structures, such as statues, are built beforehand so they can be completed when the cycle requirement is met.

Blasted Ceres is a snow-covered map with unique challenges. The lack of raw minerals in the starting area forces me to haul materials from afar, and the extreme cold requires careful base insulation and heat management. To maximize efficiency, I must leverage each region's unique traits and optimize duplicants' workflow to ensure the fastest possible base development.

 

 

As for mods, I have DSS enabled to conveniently select duplicant traits without relying on excessive SL rerolls. Of course, when choosing duplicants, I ensure their attributes align with what naturally appears in the game—high stats always come with significant drawbacks.

(PS: Since there are a lot of image explanations, they might take up server resources. If necessary, I can delete the posts.)

 

Start with three Duress to Impress duplicants: Miner, Scientist, and Builder.

 

Activate Red Alert to increase stress, and don't allow them to sleep or use the toilet. By Day 2, their stress should exceed 60%, triggering the Duress to Impress effect, which significantly boosts their work speed.

 

Day 3

The new Bionic Pack includes battery technology, so build a Crafting Station early to produce batteries, making Manual Generators unnecessary and freeing up duplicants.

Newly recruited duplicants can directly unlock Tier 1 Digging skill to speed up their next level-up, allowing them to dig through Abyssalite earlier.

 

Day 4

This map is surrounded by a large amount of snow, making it very time-consuming to dig pathways. Since Raw Mineral is essential for building the base, The sooner you clear a path to the right, the more beneficial it is for the base 

 

Day 5

This Container area has a small amount of Coal, one of the materials for making Curative Tablets. If this module is not nearby, you can burn some Lumber to produce Coal instead.

 

Day 6

Recruit a duplicant with +12 Run Speed and the Duress to Impress trait to transport Raw Minerals.

 

Day 7

Once Fire Poles are researched, they can be built to improve work efficiency.

 

Day 9

Due to the lack of wild food on this Ceres map, a Chef Bionic duplicant should be recruited early. The food supply is already down to 800 kcal, and diggers will try to excavate buried food whenever possible. On the highest difficulty, 5 duplicants require 10,000 kcal per cycle.

The Somnium Synthesizer is located in the upper-left part of the map and contains 800 kg of Glass. Since Digging 2 is not yet unlocked, build a ladder first and dig through the Abyssalite once the skill is available.

There is a small amount of Bleach Stone on the left side of the map—dig it out as well.

 

Day 11

Replace the Outhouse with a Hand Sanitizer to prevent excessive Polluted Water generation and enable faster handwashing.

Dig out the bottom as well, preparing to break through the magma layer and reach the depths in search of crude oil.

 

Day 15

Recruit a duplicant with high Machinery skill to operate the workstation and mass-produce batteries to meet early-game needs. The Scientist will also handle medicine production. Eating Mush Bars often causes diarrhea, and the area's oxygen depletes quickly, so an Electrolyzer needs to be built.

The Digger should also upgrade to Digging 2, allowing them to excavate the Abyssalite in the upper-right part of the map. This area also contains a large amount of Igneous Rock and Iron Ore.

 

Day18

After upgrading, the Bionic duplicant will install a Booster module and begin tunneling downward to pass through the magma layer. Unlike regular duplicants, who require Atmo Suits for deep excavation, Bionics have built-in oxygen tanks, allowing them to work in oxygen-deprived areas for extended periods. This enables them to dig downward much earlier without additional equipment.

Since the Electrolyzer produces Hydrogen, which rises to the top, collecting it can serve as a backup power source for Solar Panels. Therefore, it's essential to build a Hydrogen Generator early.

The Wood Heater in the barracks generates significant heat over time, so use a Mechanized Airlock with automation to control its operation. (On a side note, it's frustrating that the Wood Heater doesn't have an automation port.)

To be continued tomorrow.

 

[asurendra]

• With care packages ON you can get necessary critters after cycle 500. There was a lot worlds before with that problem so KLEI added this as fix

[Sanchozz]

Why can't you just take a screenshot of the game as it is ?
Why are you running all the screenshots through this disgusting, nasty, rip-eye filter ?

[M3mory]

I usually set my screen colors to be very dull while working, but I prefer vibrant colors when gaming. I'm too lazy to adjust them manually, so I use NVIDIA filters for gaming. About 30 cycles ago, I could no longer revert the colors to their original state. Once the 30-cycle period is over, my screenshots will look better. Also, the forum's compression is too aggressive on my 2K images, making them blurry, so please bear with it.

Note: If you want to see the full 2K images or access the game save file once it's completed, feel free to ask me.

 

Day18

After upgrading, the Bionic duplicant will install a Booster module and begin tunneling downward to pass through the magma layer. Unlike regular duplicants, who require Atmo Suits for deep excavation, Bionics have built-in oxygen tanks, allowing them to work in oxygen-deprived areas for extended periods. This enables them to dig downward much earlier without additional equipment.

Since the Electrolyzer produces Hydrogen, which rises to the top, collecting it can serve as a backup power source for Solar Panels. Therefore, it's essential to build a Hydrogen Generator early.

The Wood Heater in the barracks generates significant heat over time, so use a Mechanized Airlock with automation to control its operation. (On a side note, it's frustrating that the Wood Heater doesn't have an automation port.)

 

Day 20

The red grid area in the image can now be fully excavated since the Robo-Miner has been researched. By using batteries to power the Robo-Miner, the area can be cleared efficiently, freeing up duplicants for other tasks.

 

Day 22

Craft an Extreme Digging Booster and equip it on a Bionic duplicant, allowing them to mine Obsidian and Diamond.

 

Day24

The Solar Module is almost complete. Use a Mercury Lamp to provide additional light for solar power generation. Since Mercury melts at temperatures below 38°C, the base's average temperature of around 20+°C will naturally liquefy it, allowing it to be supplied to the Mercury Lamp without requiring a Liquid Tepidizer to maintain the temperature. Additionally, the module is easy to construct.

Collecting hydrogen at the top requires a gas reservoir, which will be built later. Otherwise, excessive hydrogen will accumulate and spread into the living area.

Use the tile placement method to quickly displace the magma and access the bottom.

 

Day 27

Prepare the Robo-Miner to clear the ice layer below. This area will be used to construct a large industrial module for producing steel and other refined metals.

 

The Solar Module is now operational, generating 1.48 kW of power. Meanwhile, construction of the Nature Reserve has begun.

 

By Day 27, the magma zone has been breached, reaching the crude oil region

 

The next objectives：

1. Plastic Production: Steam Turbines require plastic, and there are two ways to obtain it:

· Growing Bonbon Trees to produce Nectar, which can be compressed into plastic.

· Refining Crude Oil into Petroleum, then processing it into plastic.While the first method is commonly preferred, using Crude Oil is more cost-effective on this map.

   Farming Bonbon Trees requires Mercury Lamps, and even after setting up the farm, it takes nine cycles to start producing plastic, making it too time-consuming.

2.  Ice-Melting Module: Relying solely on the Ice Liquefier wastes manpower and consumes excessive wood. As the colony grows, water consumption will increase significantly. This ice-melting module will be integrated with other systems, producing Fertilizer and Natural Gas. Later, a piped circulation system will be used to transfer warm water from the water pool to prevent pipes from freezing, ensuring that toilet water does not overcool and burst the pipes.

3.Locavore Achievement: To complete this achievement, Plume Squash Plants need to be cultivated, replacing Mush Bars with Plume Fries. Additionally, Plume Squash can be used to feed Bammoths, making this farming module essential.

4.I will reset the Runner skills and convert them into a rancher, allowing them to harvest reed fibers for Atmosuits.

 

The large industrial module can only begin construction after completing the previous modules. A significant amount of steel is required for space missions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[M3mory]

Day31

Bammoths have been domesticated and sheared, and the harvested fibers are used to produce Atmosuits for the bionics.

 

Constructing a liquid pump to extract ethanol for planting Plume Squash Plants

 

Constructing a Plume Squash Plants farming area on the right side of the base, with micronutrient fertilizer to boost yield.

 

Temporarily using batteries for power.

 

Using a simple and easy-to-build crude oil conversion module, lava heat is used to convert crude oil into petroleum. This module is quite rudimentary, so the heat exchange mechanism is not very efficient. However, it can transfer heat to the base, helping to melt ice. The liquid pump is made of iron ore and will deteriorate quickly, but since steel is currently in short supply, it will be used for now. Once it breaks, it will be dismantled and rebuilt. Although this is somewhat inconvenient, it is still manageable.

 

Day34

This is a multi-functional module that includes an ice-melting module, a refined metal production module, an oxygen production module, fertilizer generation module, and a plastic production module.

 

The locavore achievement has been completed.

 

The upper section is the farming area, while the lower section is the Bammoth ranch, making it convenient to feed them with Plume Squash.

 

The Crude Oil is now being heated, which will take some time. Once it reaches the required temperature, it will convert into Petroleum and flow to the right, where a heat exchange system will accelerate the process.

 

The Petroleum Storage Area is in a vacuum, preventing heat transfer and protecting the liquid reservoir from overheating.

 

Installing a micro chip increases power output by 50%, and it's also required for an achievement.

 

Day 37

 

Oil production has begun

Crude oil reserves in the oil biome.

 

A large industrial module that includes refined metal production and glass manufacturing.

 

On the left is iron refining, using pool water as a coolant, while on the right is steel refining, utilizing polluted water near the storage tanks as a cooling liquid. Petroleum also passes through the pool to heat the water before reaching the Polymer Press for plastic production.

The oxygen module is now operational, using pipeline priority to automatically separate hydrogen and oxygen.

The heat source here allows for the cultivation of Waterweed and Pincha Pepper, enabling the production of natural gas-based food to free Ancient Duplicants.

 

Day 40
The ranching module is now operational and Flydo is now in mass production, transporting surrounding materials back to the base.

 

The Next Objectives:
Focus on completing the large industrial zone, then begin constructing telescopes and the steam Module . I will use the metal refinery to heat the water in the steam system. At the same time, I need to complete the Job Suitability achievement before launching the steam rocket.

The steam rocket is expected to launch around cycle 61-62.

 

 

[M3mory]

Day 48

This is the Cycle 48 base, where the Farming Module, Ranching Module, Ice-Melting Module, and Fertilizer Production Module have been completed.

There are 18 duplicants in total: 5 bionics and 13 regular duplicants.

Food reserves: 76,000 kcal
Single-use batteries: 43 units

 

Temperature overlay

 

Power is gradually becoming insufficient, so magma heat extraction has been implemented to generate electricity using steam turbines.

 

The buried brine geyser has been excavated, with a small portion of its output being used to irrigate Waterweed

 

Constructing a Space Cabinet and preparing to recruit an Artist Duplicant to produce Fossils.

 

The Flydo in the bionic DLC is extremely useful for transporting materials back to the base. With Flydo around, the base never runs short on materials, making the entire map significantly easier.

 

The Ancient Duplicant has already eaten two high-quality foods: Spicy Tofu and Pepper Bread

 

Plumbing overlay

Plumbing overlay

 

I'm a bit busy today, so I'll only play a few cycles. It seems like there aren't many viewers, so I'll wait until after the weekend to post updates.