Perma-Stuck?

[LVL99ButtMagic]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this game, but not new to the genre(s) that make it up, so I came into this pretty confident I'd do fine, as I'm a pretty quick learner and have good habits in these types of games, but I am struggling what seems like an obscene amount.

I've already had to make an entire new save because in the beginning, I was permanently in a state of unconsciousness and starvation because I hadn't the time to set things up before being pretty much dead, which concerned me on the pacing of their resource depletion at a certain point because a plant wouldn't even grow by the time I was downed again.

So, armed with new knowledge in my new save, I was able to survive a bit better the second time around, but only AFTER having knowledge previously, so I wouldn't say this game is very kind to people new to it, but that's opinion.

Yet again I am hard-stuck, because while I've been able to upgrade my saw and get other tools and set up the expeditions and such, I am now stuck needing mats I can't buy because they're in zone 2 at a store I can't access with my bot. I haven't the mats to make a better workbench, as I have no idea how to get them. That and my plank and sheet maker are the only production things I have aside from food. The one store I need to buy things from is with a currency I cannot get more of as I cannot build my biogenerator, it's cyclical.

So as it stands, unless there's some secret tech, or I magically get the RNG one day that gives me more special lootables to make the stuff I need to make everything else, I am quite literally just stuck making food for weeks until then? What am I missing? I also may not have explained everything well so if you need elaboration on something please let me know, I'd like to be able to play the game I bought without so many issues, without turning it to 'ultimate coziness', as I feel that's not needed, because the electromite thingies aren't my problem.

Edit: Since everyone keeps giving tips on food, which has been already addressed in my post, I ask that everyone please read thoroughly and understand that food is not my issue anymore, as stated. It is the hard-stuck of not having a microchip x2. I managed to get one for my cyrpto farm, but now it says I need one for my biogenerator. So hard stuck immediately after fixing the first one.

To elaborate even further:
- Yes I have bought every single thing from the ecovendor.
- I have picked clean the entirety of the roof I currently have available.
- LITERALLY cannot upgrade: Smart tower to LVL2, Workbench to LVL3.
- I have NO other crafting tables and have unlocked every single blueprint that I can where I am due to being hardstuck and having multiple full stacks of things because I have nothing else I can do.

Last Edit: After hours and hours, across multiple IRL days, and weeks of in-game time, I finally fished out a single microchip to break me out of this hell. Hey devs. Progression stoppers are still serious issues and is why I will be leaving this thread up. Carefully check on the availability, drop rates, or number of ways someone can access something so you get less folks refunding your game or being convinced not to play it at all. Thanks to all who commented in an attempt to help me! <3

[Nneu]

There's a good chance you missed looting something to upgrade your tools. Make sure you clicked on and deconstructed all items you can currently access on the roof and that you don't already have the mats to upgrade any of your tools from the workbench. There is a couple one off items from the shop needed for upgrades that I think you get a mail whenever they are available to buy, but there is no magical RNG needed to get the right materials. I also can't remember if maybe you need to upgrade your workbench first or another machine to make the materials you are missing.

As for food, I would recommend doing a bunch of fishing and planting lettuce. You can check the wiki if you are having a hard time figuring out the recipes, but I wouldn't recommend eating your food raw. The mushrooms, yellow flowers, and blueberries on the ground should keep you going until you can get some bigger harvests if you are crafting those into meals.

[karaji.en]

In the early game there isn't much use for it, so you can eat the biomass if you need to. Also can eat flowers, lettuces, and blueberries plants. In fact, there's usually so many plants around I didn't even bother with the garden plots until later on.

If you talk to the fridge after giving it the battery - it occasionally teaches you cooking recipes. Many of these contribute much more to the hunger metre than raw foodstuffs. You can also guess recipes in the "chef mode" (2nd from bottom in firepit menu). I think when you've guessed a correct recipe it says "something interesting" or similar. You do have to use a plank to cook though.

There are some early upgrades sneakily placed that I initially didn't think you could get to, but can if you harvest biomass bushes or stuff and wiggle around just right. But it sounds like you already got those.

As for the mechanical press, I didn't use it until much later in the game.

If you run out of circuit boards or plastic, you can occasionally get stuff like that from fishing without bait. Clams and worms can be used as bait to catch other fish as well, so you don't really need to make lures.

There's also a minigame to take apart kettles, microwaves, strings of lights, and flashlights that give useful materials. They're here and there around the roof area.

There are also some upgrades in the EcoMate vending machine things. There's several of them around, each with different items.

Just out of curiosity, what equipment and upgrades do you have? Might give us a better idea where you are stuck at or may have missed.

I may have to replay the beginning to recall what I did to get past that position.

[LVL99ButtMagic]

Originally posted by Nneu:

There's a good chance you missed looting something to upgrade your tools. Make sure you clicked on and deconstructed all items you can currently access on the roof and that you don't already have the mats to upgrade any of your tools from the workbench. There is a couple one off items from the shop needed for upgrades that I think you get a mail whenever they are available to buy, but there is no magical RNG needed to get the right materials. I also can't remember if maybe you need to upgrade your workbench first or another machine to make the materials you are missing.

As for food, I would recommend doing a bunch of fishing and planting lettuce. You can check the wiki if you are having a hard time figuring out the recipes, but I wouldn't recommend eating your food raw. The mushrooms, yellow flowers, and blueberries on the ground should keep you going until you can get some bigger harvests if you are crafting those into meals.

I did end up solving the food problem in save two, as I said. I have looted/dissassembled every single thing that is possible with the tools I have so that isn't the issue, I have looted the 2 tools available in the first area of the roof, as well as upgraded one of them. The other required metal frames, which I am not able to get as I do not have a resource printer or access to anywhere past the first zone of the roof.

As my crypto mine cannot be used unless I have the biogenerator, which needs a microchip, I have no u-coins to buy those extra parts. I promise all of the obvious things I have tried. As it stands now, I am stuck fishing to pass each day in hopes that filleting one of the fish gives me a microchip, or that I get an appliance to pop on the expeditions I do every single day as soon as it hits 6AM.

I appreciate the try though, it's still very thoughtful! ; v; <3

[LVL99ButtMagic]

Originally posted by karaji.en:

In the early game there isn't much use for it, so you can eat the biomass if you need to. Also can eat flowers, lettuces, and blueberries plants. In fact, there's usually so many plants around I didn't even bother with the garden plots until later on.

If you talk to the fridge after giving it the battery - it occasionally teaches you cooking recipes. Many of these contribute much more to the hunger metre than raw foodstuffs. You can also guess recipes in the "chef mode" (2nd from bottom in firepit menu). I think when you've guessed a correct recipe it says "something interesting" or similar. You do have to use a plank to cook though.

There are some early upgrades sneakily placed that I initially didn't think you could get to, but can if you harvest biomass bushes or stuff and wiggle around just right. But it sounds like you already got those.

As for the mechanical press, I didn't use it until much later in the game.

If you run out of circuit boards or plastic, you can occasionally get stuff like that from fishing without bait. Clams and worms can be used as bait to catch other fish as well, so you don't really need to make lures.

There's also a minigame to take apart kettles, microwaves, strings of lights, and flashlights that give useful materials. They're here and there around the roof area.

There are also some upgrades in the EcoMate vending machine things. There's several of them around, each with different items.

Just out of curiosity, what equipment and upgrades do you have? Might give us a better idea where you are stuck at or may have missed.

I may have to replay the beginning to recall what I did to get past that position.

Yeah on my second save the food issues were solved since I had knowledge of what was gonna happen or where things grew. Thanks so much though! I sure didn't know about just snackin' on biomass, LOL.

So, as it stands I have the hammer, the saw, and the drill. Most of my upgrades require Agatha's store, or buying parts from the hoarder guy, but I have no power to my crypto mine, because I'm hard stuck needing a microchip and there's 0 appliances in places I can reach and haven't gotten an appliance on an expedition in ages. For Agatha, I haven't unlocked the zone for because I do not have the special materials needed to upgrade my smart tower. Or they require things from the resource printer, which I do not have either a blueprint for or a possible blueprint for, as the only crafting table I have is the workbench.

I have built anything and everything I can and looted or disassembled everything else 'cuz I like a clean home, I mean seriously I've been obsessive in making sure everything that can be done has been done in the areas I can interact with, haha.

So because of where I am in the game I am legitimately hard-stuck until RNG on expeditions goes in my favor and I somehow get another appliance like the first time, but the area node for that after the first one has dissipated completely since I got the first appliance so, I am not feeling hopeful. Fishing, filleting, and expeditions every single day until I can get a microchip, AND I have bought every single item from the ecovendor and it doesn't refresh its merch, it just becomes lootable. It's very disheartening... :c


To prove it to you guys I would GLADLY stream and show whoever needs it my entire roof to prove that I am indeed hardstuck until a fish has one in its guts or an expedition coughs up another appliance for me. LOL

[FireNinja474]

I found the game to be much more enjoyable when I turned down the difficulty level. The default is unbalanced in my opinion.

Microchips are a rare drop from fishing without bait.

You can use the tails that drop from enemies as bait. These will get you a fish that can be traded at the eco vending machine for an appliance. Disassemble it for a microchip.

[LVL99ButtMagic]

Originally posted by FireNinja474:

I found the game to be much more enjoyable when I turned down the difficulty level. The default is unbalanced in my opinion.

Microchips are a rare drop from fishing without bait.

You can use the tails that drop from enemies as bait. These will get you a fish that can be traded at the eco vending machine for an appliance. Disassemble it for a microchip.

Haha, I agree about the unbalanced bit, but I only cranked the coziness level up one, as that got rid of the strange discrepancy for food resource depletion timers for me and that was the only issue I had with that, but I don't think the meter helps with the amount of items needed to build things does it? :0

Also, yes, I have been fishing every single in-game minute where I'm not checking expeditions or clearing my inventory of the bulk of things I've been getting.

I am aware of the leech tails even though the game never really tells you anywhere else that they're bait, sorta just found out one time when I went to throw them in my fishing storage 'cuz they were taking up so much space, LOL!

Also, as stated in my original post, I have bought every single ecovendor item, so the merch does not refresh, it merely renders the item ready for disassembly.

Thanks for the input and attempt at assistance. I think the devs seriously need to look at this thread because nobody else can seem to think of fixes for the issue either that hasn't already been done. :c

Edit: I'm beginning to think that the fishing drop for microchips is only on higher tier rods, because as much as I've done of fishing without bait, I've only ever gotten plastic, metal scrap, or clams. Unless the drop rate is so low it may as well not exist, I feel like a better rod would be needed, but guess what we need to upgrade it? Something you only get further in the game. C: LOL

[karaji.en]

Glad you got what you needed to continue!

Out of curiosity if you recall, where did you spend your early microchips that ended in the soft-lock?

I restarted the game and got to when you unlock the crypto farm and had around 4 microchips at that point.

I do believe there should be more of certain materials though. I got soft-locked a bit later on once you make the resource printer. Because you go through a lot of metal scraps and pipe pieces to make the frames for upgrades and the bridge. And it takes ages to craft them as well, so I ended up making a second printer when I could.

[LVL99ButtMagic]

Originally posted by karaji.en:

Glad you got what you needed to continue!

Out of curiosity if you recall, where did you spend your early microchips that ended in the soft-lock?

I restarted the game and got to when you unlock the crypto farm and had around 4 microchips at that point.

I do believe there should be more of certain materials though. I got soft-locked a bit later on once you make the resource printer. Because you go through a lot of metal scraps and pipe pieces to make the frames for upgrades and the bridge. And it takes ages to craft them as well, so I ended up making a second printer when I could.

I don't remember exactly at this point but I think my point is that hey, not everyone is gonna immediately make whatever gets unlocked right away, especially if they don't know its value or what it does, so the progression design aspect of any game should take into account free-will. LOL