Some feedback

[AlucardEX]

So after playing for quite some time now I want to write down some feedback on potential issues and ideas for the game.

First of all I'm really pleasantly surprised how well the game runs already. This is an Alpha version after all and so far I didn' have a single game breaking bug.

Also the game is already a lot of fun to play even though it's still missing a lot of content. It reminds me of the early days of Don't Starve and I can't wait to see the game evolve in the same manner.

Now to the issues I found:

-First is of course the problem of sustainability. Sooner or later you will run out of water and curently there is nothing you can do about that.
There should either be some lategame tech that allows you to create water or there should be a proper water lifecycle aka water never gets lost you just have to find ways to retrieve it. For example water used on plants could evaporate forcing you to build condensers and hydrogen generators might create water as a "waste" product.

-Second issue: Contaminated air and water aren't actually much of a thread at the moment. When I started playing I was really scared of illnesses spreading in my colony so I used tons of airlocks and air deodorizers. However later on I realized that neither contaminated water nor air are much of a thread...at all.

In my current colony my Dupes are almost constantly breathing in contaminated air while digging and are walking through and even get showered with contaminated water. So far I had exactly one illness that dissapeared after a cycle or so.

I feel that dealing with illnesses should be a main point in the middle part of the game when you dig out and search for more water/ rressources so Contaminated air and water need to pose much more of a potential threat.

First way to resolve this issue is pretty simple: Dial up the chance of catching illnesses quite a bit.
Also I think contaminated water getting into contact with clear water should slowly contaminate it as well. Maybe the same should be applied for air as well but that might be a bit too extreme.

Also I think illnesses should spread within your colony from Dupe to Dupe further increasing the importance of sanitation or even forcing you to isolate infected dupes.

Lastly a minor issue I found is that bleachstone is really really rare in the current build. Maybe the world builder needs to be tweaked to spawn some more of it.

-Last issue: The different gases are too similar to each other.

When I first accidentally released Hydrogen into my base I was really scared. Real life Hydrogen is a pretty dangerous gas to have floating around in your house after all. However I quickly learned that Hydrogen behaves almost the same as Oxygen and - aside from powering hydrogen generators - has no special properties. Same goes for Chlorine which is basically a version of Co2 you can't do anthing about.

Suggested fix: Different gases should have unique properties. Hydrogen should be highly flammable especially when it gets into contact with hot machinery within your base. Chlorine on the other hand should be really toxic to your Dupes.

Edit: One issue I totally forgot the coal burning generators are kinda broken at the moment. All you have to do is put them in an isolated room and all their cons are completely negated. For a fix either make them use up some oxygen, make them stop working once Co2 pressure is too high, or make them overheat and explode when put in a small isolated room. Maybe even a combination of the above.


That's all that currently comes to my mind. Feel free to discuss and add your own issues.

[numberkruncher]

Some really good points here.