belated Occupational Upgrade feedback

[goboking]

It occurred to me today that though I engaged heavily in discussions about the new priority system, I never created an actual feedback thread (something I try to do after every update).  So though it's weeks late, here are my thoughts on the Occupational Upgrade.

 

Jobs

I've always specialized my dupes, so this doesn't offer anything for me personally.  That said, since they're here to stay, here are a few thoughts.  I'm of the belief that carrots, not sticks, should be used in game systems when possible.  So instead of denying us the ability to dig certain materials unless we have a seasoned miner you could instead have seasoned miners preserve more of the materials they dig out.  Instead of cooks being able to use an electric grill maybe the meals they prepare are of one better quality than normal.  That sort of design rewards us for leveling up our jobs instead of punishing us for failing to do so.

• There's no reason to keep full-time artists and researchers.  These jobs will need end game functions if they're to remain relevant throughout a colony's lifespan.
• There's an obvious lack of a doctor/physician job.
• Future jobs could include an Animal Handler and/or a Therapist, both of which could use the Kindness skill, and some kind of Security/Soldier to combat hostile threats if and when they're ever added to the game.
• The tooltip in the Jobs sub-menu could use a bit more information (what jobs each task does, what the wrench symbol means, etc)

Whatever the final version of the job system looks like, I hope you'll grant us the freedom to "multi-class" (for lack of a better word).  Some of us enjoy playing with smaller populations and this becomes difficult to do if our chef can't double as a farmer or our miner has to wait for an architect to build a ladder through every tile of abyssalite he or she digs.

 

Priorities

This has already been discussed ad nauseum but I want to reiterate my thoughts here.  Reducing priorities from 1-9 to 1-5, with or without a *, is taking away quite a bit of flexibility and control from those of us who already use the full gamut of priorities.  I personally use three different settings just for my storage compactors, so going from 1-9 to 1-5 greatly diminishes the control I'm used to playing with.  Please don't take this control away from me just because the average player can't be bothered to use priorities lower than 5.

 

Stats

If you feel stats level too quickly or you want to encourage us to use jobs to level stats, I propose a hybrid system wherein stats increase to 10 naturally as dupes perform various tasks and can be increased another 10 through job mastery (for a max of 20 in any stat).  Such a system would require stat increases from job leveling to carry over, obviously.

 

Stations

I like the addition of the Power and Farming Stations and I hope to see more additions along these lines in the future. 

• The Power Station should utilize a queue system where we select the quantity and materials we want to make microchips out of. 
• I think Tune Up buff takes too long to apply, even with a high Tinkering skill. 
• The Farmer's Touch only lasting a day gives me the impression that it's done to create busy work to justify the existence of a full time Farmer.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I wouldn't be upset if the buff lasted longer than it currently does.
• I think the timer on the Tune Up and Farmer's Touch buffs should suspend while power generators and plants are idle or stifled, respectively.

 

Food

• The new consumables window is small, hard to read, and jumps around without player input.  Aside from that, I suppose caloric increase for cooked food is a good change.  I didn't mind it the way it was, though, so either way works for me. 
• I do wish Mushrooms retained usefulness throughout the game.  Setting up slime farms takes a fair bit of time and effort, so for Mushrooms to fall by the wayside so quickly as dupes expectations increase is a bit disappointing.
• I know this one comes up often, but I'm going to request it again here.  Please consider changing the electric grill so that we can queue up several infinite recipes and the cook will skip make them from left to right as ingredients are available.

 

Steam Turbine

I've been waiting for this thing to be added to the game for a while now.  As is, though, its demands are too stringent.  450+ F is a really difficult temperature to achieve without lava or exploits.  The former is finite and difficult to work with (to put it mildly) and the latter shouldn't be encouraged.  As such, I sincerely hope you adjust this to make it more practical.  Perhaps a steam input and water output (with water outputting at a much lower temperature) would be a better approach.  I understand this one is difficult to balance, as you don't want infinite free energy, but surely there's lower threshold than what we're currently required to achieve to get this thing to run.

 

Miscellaneous

Finally, here a few minor thoughts on the rest of the update.

• Microchips currently have no place to be stored.  Might I suggest Industrial Ingredients in the Storage Compactor?
• Job-related clothing can be added to the Textile Loom.  Such a move might actually make it worth building and using.
• Dupes showering in hats looks silly.  I'm not saying this is a bad thing, though, so feel free to leave it as is.
• The light on top of the Refrigerator looks odd and hastily done.  I'd recommend making it much smaller and placing it on the Refrigerator's front near the handle.
• I think the Jobs Board would look more aesthetically pleasing if it was three tiles wide.  Right now it looks horizontally cramped.
• The colors of the Mess Hall and the Power Station on the Rooms Overlay are very similar.  A more orange hue for the Power Station would help set them apart.  Similarly, the Rec Room could be changed to purple to make it stand out a bit more from the Latrine.
• Finally, I'm not entirely sold on the Disinfect task being tied to Tidying.  It makes sense both thematically and mechanically, but it can lead to some annoying task management situations when your Groundskeeper bails on the cleanup project you've given them to disinfect a tile touching slime on the other side of the map.

 

That's it.  Overall it's been a rougher patch than usual, but enjoyable nonetheless.  As always, I look forward to see what you've got in store for us next.

[goboking]

PS - An automation input for the electric grill would be mighty convenient.

[vovik]

well, you forgot that desinfect doesnt have priority at all...