Oxygen Not Includedis a colony-building game with a ton of depth. At first, players only need to provide basic survival requirements like beds, food, and toilets, but as the base runs out of non-sustainable resources, they must find renewable alternatives. This will eventually lead to theneed to understand how to make proper building setupsand self-operating machines so that they don’t rely on the Duplicant’s assistance.
Before reaching these mid-game issues, however, new players can refer to theseOxygen Not Includedbeginner tipsto help them have a smoother sailing in the early game.
7Choose Your Starter Duplicants (Dupes)
Lest You Want Natural Gas All Over The Colony
Press thedownward arrownext toRerollon top of the selection box, thenRerollto refresh the selection. Choose either1 Digger, 1 Builder, and 1 Researcher, or2 Diggers and 1 Researcher. This way, the colony begins with Duplicants thatcan dig quicklyand unlock research trees fast. Next, here are some things to look out for:
6Plan Your Expansion Route
Fail To Plan Is Plan To Fail
In the Terra Asteroid, players will start in the middle of the map. The first thing the colony should look out for isclean water—there should be three or four pools in the area.Collect the clean water into one big water reserveby letting gravity do its job. If water ends up puddling on the ground, use theMopcommand to dry it off and avoid constant Soggy Feet status on the Duplicants. Before digging up, however, make sure to plan your expansion route. You want to touch the fresh water, butavoid the polluted water and Slime tiles. Be wary of leaking polluted oxygen and Slimelung germs as it’ll negatively affect the Dupes.
When sending the dig command, note thata Dupe can dig/build up to four tiles high, jump one tile horizontally, and climb two tiles vertically, so considering most buildings need four tiles, make sure todig four tiles high each time. Leave one row for walking, and make sure to build a Tile if there’s a gap more than one tile wide. Building Tiles help the Dupes move faster, but don’t sweat it in the first few cycles. Another tip is tofreely use ladders to reach places. Dupes can “walk” on ladders like a normal tile, making it a great way to increase mobility and reach.
While planning thecolony’s layout inONI, consider a vertical layout instead of a full horizontal layout. For example, building a ranch in a vertical layout is a great way to optimize ranching time.
5Build Rooms For Morale
Closed Space In Space
Every Duplicant has a Morale count that can affect their Stress level. The easiest way to gain Morale in the early game is bybuilding Barracks, Latrine, and Great Hall rooms. To build a room,make sure the space is enclosed with tiles or doors. Go toRoom Overlay (F11)to see the rooms a colony can build and their requirements.
Requirement
Barracks
12 to 64 tiles in size, at least one Cot, no industrial machinery
Latrine
12 to 64 tiles in size, at least one Outhouse and one Wash Basin, no industrial machinery
Great Hall
32 to 120 tiles in size, at least one mess table, one recreational building (like a Water Cooler), and one fancy decor item (like a plant inside a Flower Pot), no industrial machinery
Although Cot is only two tiles high in size, it’s best to keep bedrooms at four tiles high, so it’s easy to switch to Luxury Barracks later on.
A Wash Basin isamust-haveto remove Germsfrom using the Outhouse. When building a Wash Basin, make sure toplace it by the exit and change the usage directionby pressing on the building, thenSet Directionto point to the door. It’s best not to have two exits to avoid having multiple Wash Basins (you can make two entrances and set the door directions to forbid dupes to exit from it).
4Don’t Hoard Duplicants From Printing Pod
Care Packages Are Good Too
Every few cycles, the Printing Pod is ready to print. Here, players can eitherprint a new Duplicant or choose a care package. Although having more Dupe is great to make work faster, players must remember thatmore Dupe requires more Oxygen and food. Therefore, it’s important not to hoard Duplicants. Settle with 10 in the early game, then take five more in mid-game as the colony gets comfortable with resources.
If the Printing Pod didn’t give a good selection, players can save and then load their game to refresh the options. Beginner players don’thave to feel bad about save scummingas it’ll help a lot until they understand the game better.
3Avoid Microbe Musher
Unless You’re In A Pinch
Microbe Musher is an easyfood source inOxygen Not Included, but players should only use it in an emergency. In the early game, players can do things like:
Players can also keep some wild plants to create aParkorNature Reserve. Placing these in the middle of the base and “forcing” the Duplicants to walk by it as they work is a neat way to boost Morale.
Next, make a smallMealwoodfarmto keep food going. It’s best tomake the farm below the main areaso that carbon dioxide can pool inside it and Mealwood can maintain the required air pressure. Just remember that Mealwood won’t grow if it’s too hot, so useInsulated Tiletomaintain temperature inside and remove heat from outside.
2Learn In Sandbox Or Debug Mode
Draw Layouts Freely
Oxygen Not Includedrequires a lot of trial and error, so it’s a good idea to play in Sandbox oractivate Debug Mode to learn. To activate the sandbox, go toNew Game > Game Settings > Check Sandbox Mode.
If players wish to have a half-normal, half-sandbox experience, then they can start a game normally and then activate the Debug Mode. The easiest way to do this is by typingkleiplayin the main menu, then entering the game. Once inside, pressCTRL + F4to enable free building. Debug Mode enabled this way can be deactivated by restarting the game.
1Find Alternatives For Oxygen Early
Oxygen Not Included
At the start, players can use either the Algae Terrarium or Oxygen Diffuser to generate oxygen. This is great for the first few cycles, but eventually, thecolony will need to find alternativesas the Algae stock runs thin. The best way to generate oxygen is by utilizingElectrolyzerusing the Self-Powering Oxygen Module (SPOM) layout. This consumes clean water in exchange for oxygen and a self-powering machine via Hydrogen Generators.
Players can also collect polluted water (make sure it’s not infected by germs), then use the polluted oxygen it emits to feed a Deodorizer, which will turn the polluted oxygen into fresh oxygen.
There’s a myth that mining Oxylite tiles will reduce the total Oxygen they emit, but this has been addressed as false. Digging Oxylite will make it emit Oxygen more slowly, while diggingaroundOxylite tile to expose it (but not digging the Oxylite tile itself) will make it emit Oxygen faster.
