Meaning of HS colors?

[katsups]

Can anyone explain what the difference is between yellow and red holding stations? I never thought much of it in earlier games but now I think there's probably a reason (and I should know it).

As a side question - do people check the menu of the day to re-prep holding stations or just go by luck? I haven't really found it super useful to use especially during a stop.

[Pooba]

holding stations are two different colors due to the types of food you can make. There are food that absolutely require the HS, and some where the HS is optional.....at least from what ive worked out. Thats the two differences.

[katsups]

Thats what I sort of gathered from playing CSD2 - that one of them I could still prep "on the go" if I needed to. Good to know it's not more complex than that !

[dorianmode]

Originally posted by katsups:

do people check the menu of the day to re-prep holding stations or just go by luck? I haven't really found it super useful to use especially during a stop.

I use the menu constantly - it's never clear which things might need restocking, and with different freshness times and numbers of servings it helps to know which things are worth preparing. I imagine wasting prep time on making extras of things that aren't needed or risk expiring before the next stop otherwise. Especially useful given it gives an exact number for the servings needed.
I'm curious as to what doesn't feel useful about the information, though... It's kinda invaluable to me!

[Sombrero]

I am on the fence about using the menu of the day, at first I constantly checked it thinking it was vital but in practice I quickly started finding my own rhythm and having my own prep no matter what the orders were.

I guess I'd use it a lot more in co-op though whenever I get to try the game in co-op as that would give me more time to plan for it. But most of the time I prefer being as fast as possible instead of opening the menu and watching (plus I always get confused with what's currently cooking, what's ready and what is needed on top of that).

[dorianmode]

Originally posted by Sombrero:

But most of the time I prefer being as fast as possible instead of opening the menu and watching

Part of the speed function for me is know which dishes to prioritise, since I often had more portions than I needed for a particular stop before I started using the order figures. The number flashes up when selecting a holding station item, which is generally more than enough time to read the number to gauge how many stations to fill with a particular food (and often to choose which foods to pre-prepare, and which to make on the fly - I find it far easier to make many batches of the more complex foods while in transit, and plan to make batches of the simpler foods during the rush later on).

Originally posted by Sombrero:

(plus I always get confused with what's currently cooking, what's ready and what is needed on top of that).

This particularly interests me, since I found the layout with the numbers impressively concise, given how much detail is displayed. Perhaps that's why I find it so useful, given it shows how many orders to expect, how many are being prepared, and how much excess of a food there is in the holding stations. Many times I've used the menu to identify whether I could afford to clear a small number of remaining portions of a food in favour of a new batch of something else. That kind of decision is impossible to make if you can't tell whether those remaining portions are still needed.