Light and Decor

[clickrush]

Disclaimer: This post will sound very negative but I have only love for the game and it merely points out the one part of the game that I dislike.

I feel like the decor system and as an extension the stress system is lackluster and boring. Currently stress reduction is simply a matter of space. On a simple level I like it: You have to sacrifice space and thus a bit of efficiency to keep the duplicants happy. In the early part of the game this is OK as it forces a little bit more digging and room planning. But comes mid game you just cluster up high traffic areas with artwork, which is in one way funny because it shows how simple minded duplicants are but I find it to be, I don't know how else to put this, stupid and ugly.

Light also ties into this. It just feels wrong on many levels. First of all it has almost no use as you can simply cluster areas with artwork and not worry about decor, which is kind of funny because how are the dupes supposed to see the artwork without light? Secondly having a lighted room is kind of a super important thing IRL. Light also requires power but has (almost) no benefits.

It would be an easy thing to make light more of a thing just by increasing duplicant stats by +X in lighted rooms by speeding up certain activities, I mean who likes to eat in the dark? Especially with the automation update this could lead to very interesting room concepts. Do you use pressure plates to activate lighted rooms? Do you hook up a timer? Or if you could wake up duplicants with light we would get a whole new way of torturing them!

[ICKA]

Yes! More torture!

[Exa]

light could be a game changing element if darkness was real darkness, need this in a hard mode

[clickrush]

it doesn't have to be crippling and they could add mobile light such as flashlights and miner helmets that need to be charged (like exosuits)

[PhailRaptor]

Under the current system, it's actually detrimental to use Light for any purpose other than growing Berries (and is even problematic for them).  It is a constant source of Heat, which you have to make allowances for and deal with.  This is where it becomes problematic for Berries, due to their extremely finicky temperature requirements.  This in turn requires more of your cooling system, increasing your electricity consumption far beyond the, what, 10 W to run a Ceiling Light?  As well as requiring more runtime from your cooling system per Berry.

 

Light either needs a rework, or needs to be removed.

[Daxterr]

1 hour ago, PhailRaptor said:

Under the current system, it's actually detrimental to use Light for any purpose other than growing Berries (and is even problematic for them).  It is a constant source of Heat, which you have to make allowances for and deal with.  This is where it becomes problematic for Berries, due to their extremely finicky temperature requirements.  This in turn requires more of your cooling system, increasing your electricity consumption far beyond the, what, 10 W to run a Ceiling Light?  As well as requiring more runtime from your cooling system per Berry.

 

Light either needs a rework, or needs to be removed.

Light and food update next? =)

[GrindThisGame]

LED lights (with color) would be cool. Especially if they had like 0W or 1W of heat output. They could also be very low power to use as well. I think light on a algae terrarium increases its output.

[mickaux]

13 hours ago, PhailRaptor said:

Under the current system, it's actually detrimental to use Light for any purpose other than growing Berries (and is even problematic for them).  It is a constant source of Heat, which you have to make allowances for and deal with.  This is where it becomes problematic for Berries, due to their extremely finicky temperature requirements.  This in turn requires more of your cooling system, increasing your electricity consumption far beyond the, what, 10 W to run a Ceiling Light?  As well as requiring more runtime from your cooling system per Berry.

Well, it's very much ONI. You want to have something better then meal lice or liceloafs - go ahead and deal with the problems. Dealing with all those issues is pretty much pointless right now though, as dupes don't actually care what they're eating, you just need to provide them nice surrounding to balance lousy meal debuff. In my late-game I usually focus mainly on food, because improving dupes' lifes is something worth doing. And it's a bit challenging, especially with berries. So I disagree, those regular bulbs heating is sorrounding is a fantastic example of ONI's mechanics.

22 hours ago, clickrush said:

it doesn't have to be crippling and they could add mobile light such as flashlights and miner helmets that need to be charged (like exosuits)

Maybe shinebugs trapped in the helmets? :>

 

30 minutes ago, GrindThisGame said:

LED lights (with color) would be cool. Especially if they had like 0W or 1W of heat output. They could also be very low power to use as well.

It would be fantastic for informing purposes, like how many dupes are still inside a base or how many have already eaten today. Big brother is watching.