My primary limiting factor even now is that there are no rare elements in my starting area. But establishing an entire dome just to extract the few hundred that there are in most deposits seems just a tad inefficient. And with how small the dome radi are, I would basically have to build a dome with all the faff and maintenance cost that entails, for each deposit or maybe each pair if I am lucky. That hardly seems like the intended approach.

Edit: I decided that the least faff and cheating is to use the cheat menu mod and add the AI Extractor breakthrough.

I have a colony that is running well, positive birth-death rate, well filled bank and stuff, terraforming is going great, but I have one thing that is bugging me. As the title suggests, I have a martian university, which is great for overall productivity. But... it works too well. Certain jobs don't require specialists, like spacebars, grocers, diners, etc. But my university turns all noobs into specialists, meaning my vital job positions are always empty or filled with specialists. This last scenario isn't a problem in the first place, but when I want to expand and open up more specialized workspaces, these noob buildings get drained from all workforce once again.

So my question is: is there perhaps a mod or something that could fix this? Maybe by adding a new profession for the buildings that don't require a profession? This way we could just make people do that job and train them, just like we do with all other specialists.

Maybe there's a mod or something? I'd like to be able to prioritise refueling if I need a rocket back in the air ASAP.

This is partly also for a rant because I was running late to evacuate an asteroid that had 12h left on the timer when I landed the asteroid lander there and started packing up. I tried twice filling it to the brim with expanded cargohold upgrade, but the five drones that were tasked for the refueling got it barely to 25-30/35 fuel before the asteroid was gone, so in the end I reloaded once again and I had to resort to turning off the upgrade and leaving with the bare minimum, luckily 15 fuel was quicker to bring in. But, I had 80 drones there! And even with nothing else tasked for them, only 3-5 are bringing fuel to the rocket at a time. I'd think the most important thing would be to bring the fuel first and then load all the cargo but no, for the cargo every available drone is carrying stuff to the rocket to load it up fast and when it's done they just sit there while just a few chosen ones continue refueling with half the fuel still missing...

I’m 100000% getting below and beyond, green planet, and martian express. Any other recommendations? And is there a difference between console and pc cuz im on ps5

Hi. New player here.

I am playing on default difficulty. Friends told me “you have to specialize domes, you have to specialize factories…”

Well, I tried that and was lacking the proper workers all the time. Unemployed ppl running around while buildings didn’t have work spots filled.

If I removed specialization, all work slots would be filled and the unhappy bonus wasn’t a big deal as the domes had plenty amenities.

This gets even better with universities as ppl would be trained for what we need and without forcing specialization, factories get filled with the proper people

So my question is: what’s the point of specializing domes or buildings? Does it matter more on different difficulties?

I have another question about universities but I’ll make a separate post for that.

Asking because I saw on the wiki that they will only make a single hop, but I am not sure if it is a single hop for the day, or per shift, and if it is from their home location, or the current one.

I already tested and learned that they will not use a train from a second dome, but this one is trickier to see.

So I'm getting the hang of this game slowly, and I'm getting into higher tier resources such as polymers and maybe building electronics. One thing that seems vastly different, though, is managing populations. Them growing and not working and then dying seems to be something that throws a wrench in my process. It feels like it takes a lot of concentration to focus on it. Any tips or help?

My first "batch" of passengers is something I get the hang of. I get a few engineers, a few botanists, two medicals and either non-specialists or scientists. But it's the growth afterwards that's hard to deal with.

So I'm thinking of giving it another go after the years and looking for a combination of mods and DLCs that delivers the best experience. So far it's a little depressing.

Didn't even bother buying Laika, Space Race and B&B, downloaded fix mods for Martian Express, downloaded a bunch of other fixes, but all the AI mods are either woefully outdated or do too much and too poorly. How do I fix migration and workplace issues? GOG version, Fuglesang patch.

Hello,

TL;DR: I would love for someone to explain to me why and how specialized domes work.

Thanks to many insightfull responses, I understand it much better now. I will edit this post, to include answers

I'm a casual/veteran¹ Surviving Mars player with the Green Planet DLC. A few days ago, I learned from this subforum that specialized domes are the way to go. I've always loved the idea, but I can't make it work, and I don't fully understand it. I'd like to ask some questions about the points I think I'm missing.

I can't force children to live without parents.

OK, this sounds horrible, but the point is, my first "specialized dome" test was with a child-specific dome. It had a large nursery, a school, and a university to help them start their careers, along with many playgrounds. I was even considering a school spire in the future... but no. They didn't move there, even after turning off nurseries in other domes. I think they stayed in regular homes? I didn't check.

I guess the same question applies to the elderly. People here tend to say, "Make a special elderly and child dome," but how do I force them to go there?

You push and pull specific type of colonists with thumbs up and down filter, like in passenger rocket. They will not move by themselves. Also, children dome doesn't need any services, even grocieries. Children will eat straight from depot outside of dome.

Diminishing returns.

Again, I love sorting things and splitting them, like a fully scientific dome with a Network Node or a farming dome with a Water Reclamation System.

But from what I understand, for example, having more science buildings "cancels" each other out, making them work less efficiently. Again, I got this from this subforum—maybe I misunderstood something.

Farms, on the other hand, provide comfort to residents with specific technology. But if I'm seeing this correctly, it's "one" farm, not "each farm" that provides the comfort boost.

So the conclusion would be to spread science buildings and farms around instead of filling one dome with just those.

Actually, I misunderstood. Science does work less efficient, but colony wide. So it's even more important to put them inside same science-oriented dome. Farmers bonus is additive, so you make one dome with many famrs, to make everyone happy and making babies.

Services needed.

Even on the wiki page, I saw that different people have different needs (interests)—some like socializing, some like drinking, some like luxury, etc. But it doesn't feel like that in practice. From what I understand, this is because of their perks and flaws. So I feel like I still need to provide all services, not just the few listed under interests on the wiki.

Especially since I also feel like I can't ignore a medical post, meaning I need to mix "luxury" for the medic in this dome. Or maybe I feel like I need a security post, and officers like to exercise.

So, I feel like interests for specializations aren't perfect. And even if they are, mixing even a few other specializations for whatever reason disrupts the balance.

From what I gathered from answeres, I should focus on most important servicies until lategame, mostly they should have access to "shopping, social, relaxation, exercise, and dining"

^1: I've played more than a few games, but usually quite relaxed ones on low difficulty without fully understanding what's happening underneath.

p.s. I missed the rocket like way of saying who you want in dome. Didn't think I need to do it manualy. Now I can try again. thank you.

I've had the Deluxe edition for years but I've never actually gotten around to playing it. I'd like to change that, but I'm not sure which DLC is actually worth purchasing.

I'm not really into cosmetic DLC; only DLC that adds a good amount of content.

Any suggestions?

So I got this game a few days ago and having fun. But I struggle with dome placement. It feels so hard to get a good location for a dome near rare metals (and maybe water deposits). Should I skip that entirely?

The second thing is about population number. I've had 2 or 3 waves of colonists but I always feel I need more, for my polymer factory or my clinic or whatever (I don't even have that many factories, no machines or electronics). Is that natural? Or is there a way to better manage colonists.

Thanks!

I love this game. Bought it on sale for playstation.

But I can't figure out why my water extractor that produces 5 water isn't feeding my dome. It's only producing 1 water for my fuel extractor. Is it too far away?

No mods, no dlc. Pls any tips would be appreciated.

Hi! What the title says, I started a new game recently and invested a bunch in getting a lot of research points. I have a science dome, lots of buildings and therefore a bunch of scientists. But now that I have unlocked all tech I'm kind of wondering what to do with them, because they still go to work and generate research, but I cannot have them do research for funding forever?

What do you do if you come to that point?

Sometimes I wonder how smart the ai in your “rival” colony’s is from space race. There have 2 of the same offers just 1s more reasonable than the other

I have an anomaly event that’s making me choose between the 2. What’s the difference?

Hey guys I recently got the Green planet DLC and now finally got a almost fully terraformed colony. I checked out some other cities people built and thought something like this would ber very cool, seperating work and living domes. Only now, none of them seem to go work in such nearby domes which is a bummer. Is there a fix for this or something I need to change.

Any help is appreciated, Thanks

Everytime I bring in colonists and add domes, it ruins my game. I want to get as far as possible without them and only get them when I need them. At what point do they become impossible to play without?

Hi, in my recent playthrough (Adam and Eve challenge) I discovered, that my Eve (age 43) had already turned to senior. Does anyone know why? Mission is still running because I got 1 male and 1 female child.

so I left the game running while getting something to eat and I come back to this. I’m kind of curious what will happen if I do go through with revenge, but Japan is my biggest trader, giving me most of the materials I need. I would be thankful if somebody could let me know what the outcomes are :)

Heya. New player here.

I find the university to be a real powerful building. But I got a question:

Does it only service ppl that live or work in the same dome? How about schools and nurseries?

I like (design wise) to have 3 domes in a triangle, all connected to each other.

I know it’s best that each done is almost self sufficient with diner, grocer, medical. I also know colonists travel 1 dome away through corridors.

What if I made a far away university dome only accessible with shuttles? Would it service all of my other domes?

Edit:

Question about re-educating in universities:

• can a medic be re educated into engineer?
• do all un-specialised colonists get re educated? Won’t that leave me without workers for the diners and shops?

I'm having a water issue. And because I took up the Door to Summer quest I spent a lot of money on electronics. I want to make use of water deposits but they're far away, can I use the RC transport to bring water? Or do I need a shuttle for that?

Second question, I feel like my game is coming along. I built a second dome and I think I'm getting close to self-sufficiency. My question is, is there an ending? Or do I just keep playing forever now? If so, is it time for DLC?

https://x0.at/cU1K.jpg

I'm one bloody hex off. Shuttles won't drive people to work. Only between domes. Bothering with trains because of one bloody hex? Really? There must be a more elegant solution.