This game is more Micro than you may think.

[Handbanana]

So a lot of people have the problem where they think they can just set priorities and things will happen. This game is not like that. Even priorities may need to be changed on a daily basis to reflect what needs to get done.

This may need to be explained further in the tutorials but you absolutely do and WILL have to click on your survivors and tell them to do specific manual tasks on a daily basis. A lot can be automated but if you think you can just sit back and watch them go you are wrong.

Now if the developers want it to be like this or not who knows. Regardless that is how it is. So many people having issues not even realizing they can manually control each persons actions.

So just an FYI. You will have to control your people and not rely on priorities on a daily basis.

[Ruffio]

Face it, the colonists got attention spawns of lemmings and suffer from the "oh shiney" attraction. If I want them to do one task for a day... They don't. They do ONE item and then run off to do something else.

Tbh, have the ability to assign a colonist to a workbench, production etc... would be nice.

[Paraleo]

u need to use the granular priorities in the activities tab the simple version is... too simple, also yes priorities change, u got planting by example in the spring and you want people to do that then so the crops grow before the winter starts again.
Or u need to build a full house, you ll need people to go on cutting and building all hands on deck maybe

[Handbanana]

Originally posted by Paraleo:

u need to use the granular priorities in the activities tab the simple version is... too simple, also yes priorities change, u got planting by example in the spring and you want people to do that then so the crops grow before the winter starts again.
Or u need to build a full house, you ll need people to go on cutting and building all hands on deck maybe

I use advanced priorities that is not an issue. My point is you absolutely will have to on a daily basis micro at least 1-2 people. Usually forcing a rest or eat command.

[mansman]

I've found batching up work seems to be the best approach so far. For example, if i'm going to build a new building I plan out all the materials I need before starting. I take the largest material need and ONLY mark that to cut in a large area. At the same time I sometimes reduce the prio on delivery so they blow through the cutting jobs and leave everything in place.

Next I bump up the prio on delivery to force them to bring all the stuff they just cut back to base. Once that's done, it's on to the next material. Eventually you get down to the parts you only need a little of and just micro those per survivor. Obviously you keep your cook at prio 1 so you don't run out of food.

Now that you have ALL the materials you need, then you construct the building including the flooring. Don't bother laying out interior walls or furniture until the structure is complete. This will greatly reduce the happiness drain you'll get from cave dweller and rain effects that happen during construction. I've also found that when doing a big project you need to add an extra hour of relax at the start and the end of the day. Otherwise they seem to get locked into the work queue and won't eat or sleep properly for some reason.

[Lastpick72]

Another good-to-know tip is that when you manually set a task to, say build something like a fence near a stone deposit that has stone lying about, the character will scan their local surroundings for the required items. You can save time if you manually draft them to go where the materials are first and then undraft and assign them the task.

[Lastpick72]

Another tip that's worked well for me is to assign only two primary activities and only one of the hauling/delivery minor activities. I find this minimizes some of the continuous micro-managing aspects. Also, I've noticed that queuing up a bazillion tasks is just a recipe for constant micro-management where everything takes forever. Keep it Simple for the Stupid astronauts. Give them the same two task types, and they can manage their potty and meal breaks pretty well; more than that, they will get confused endlessly cycling from one activity to another.

[TheNDGhost]

Originally posted by Handbanana:

Originally posted by Paraleo:

u need to use the granular priorities in the activities tab the simple version is... too simple, also yes priorities change, u got planting by example in the spring and you want people to do that then so the crops grow before the winter starts again.
Or u need to build a full house, you ll need people to go on cutting and building all hands on deck maybe

I use advanced priorities that is not an issue. My point is you absolutely will have to on a daily basis micro at least 1-2 people. Usually forcing a rest or eat command.

This is true, but mostly because there are bugs I assume. I refuse to believe my doctor would in the middle of the night with 0% relaxation, 0% fullness would wake up on 'anything' schedule and decide to deliver an item that is half the map away (carbon nanotubes from a nest) before eating or relaxing.

That can't be intentional design and given this is early access I'm willing to accept it as something that needs tweaking but isn't completed or working as intended.

[Random Event]

Don't forget you can select a character picture to select them (or select the avatar body) and then select an item that you want them to interact with. This can be a quick way to pick up stuff on the ground or action an operation of a device or workbench, etc.

Further, when a character gets hurt, you can select their avatar (annoying when they are running around the place) and tell them to self heal, rather than go to bed and await help.

There are a lot of hidden pop-up menus that can be coaxed out of the interface from the above kind of actions. If an item/action has multiple selections, they will be offered for you to choose.

[Martin]

The trick is to tell them to do as little as possible. Imagine having 5 lists of things to do, now shuffle those things into one list, that's how the game proceeds.

So instead of harvest a field of grain it becomes harvest some grain, then go fix something, then go build something, then go plant something.. and that's what the survivors do. The take the next item on the list and jump to it, instead of completing their current task. It's typified by watching them build, they don't build a line of walls, they skip from one section to the next, often a section will be supplied and can be built, then they'll skip to one that isn't supplied and they'll run off to get the resource needed, then they'll decide they're hungry or you've set the schedule that after a few hours they can relax, so they go for a walk.. then they pick the next item on the list.. not usually the same task as before.

So by limiting them by giving them as few orders as possible, they tend to do the entire task. You can force them to do the task until they die.. and often they will or they'll get angry and flip out at you.. beating up their companions or going off in a huff.. or punching the wall, eating all your food etc..

Which is actually very close to how people act when they work with others.. some people can work in a team.. some are just incapable.