My colonists keep getting tired and fighting each other

[Just A Cat]

How do I keep them happy? I built nice bedrooms and give them tons of hours for recreation and they are still recreation-starved. And even when it's their recreation time, they still work. I don't know how to stop them. Then they get tired and get mad. Then they fight and kill each other. These tiny characters are even pickier than me. I don't play games often so I don't know what to do. Google isn't helping much. Please helpppp. I don't wanna build a new colony again. 😭😭😭😭

[Glerk]

Do they have enough recreation activities? Do you have soft drugs(beer, smokeleaf, etc) to avoid extreme breaks?

[gussmed]

The key hint is usually the "Needs" tab. It lists a bunch of positive and negative factors. You want to do something about factors that are giving them negative moods, like sleeping in the cold, sleeping on the ground, eating without a table, etc.

The obvious things to improve their mood is nice, individual bedrooms, a nice dining hall, and a nice recreation hall. If you put recreation objects in the dining hall, colonists can use it for either purpose and get separate bonuses.

Another common bonus is food. Specifically, Fine meals, which give +5 mood pretty much all day. They're harder and slower to prepare than Simple meals, but just as nutritionally efficient.

Surroundings can affect mood. Lots of dirt and debris reduces perceived Beauty, and a low Beauty bar gives a negative mood eventually. Beautiful objects like statues fill the bar, and can lead to a mood bonus.

Recreation affects mood indirectly. Low recreation gives a negative to mood, lots of recreation gives a bonus.

Recreation also has some limits. If you only have one or two kinds of recreation, they get bored. The "Recreation" bar in the "Needs" tab gives specifics of what that colonist has done.

Any table or campfire gives Social Recreation. Colonists can just wander around, which counts as Solitary Recreation.

At the start of the game, your only additional choices are dexterity play, which you get from Hoopstones or Horseshoes, and Intellectual Play, which you get from Chess or The Game of Ur. You want at least one of both of those.

Later in the game you'll want other types, like music, TV, and telescopes. There's also drug use (meaning beer, psychite tea and the like), and food (ambrosia or chocolate).

There's a hierarchy to recreation quality within type. Poker, Chess, and the Game of Ur are all Intellectual Play, and Poker > Chess > Game of Ur.

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Note that colonists will still fight now and then regardless of mood, just because they don't like each other. Generally this is because they've got wildly conflicting traits, like lazy and hard working.

[Just A Cat]

Originally posted by GlerkTheFlurp:

Do they have enough recreation activities? Do you have soft drugs(beer, smokeleaf, etc) to avoid extreme breaks?

No. I'm not there yet. :(

[Just A Cat]

Originally posted by gussmed:

The key hint is usually the "Needs" tab. It lists a bunch of positive and negative factors. You want to do something about factors that are giving them negative moods, like sleeping in the cold, sleeping on the ground, eating without a table, etc.

Note that colonists will still fight now and then regardless of mood, just because they don't like each other. Generally this is because they've got wildly conflicting traits, like lazy and hard working.

I didn't realize this game would be this complicated when I bought it. There is so much micromanagement. 😭😭😭😭They complain about everything. Now I'm gonna build a separate dining hall and recreation area. I got them everything in the recreation box but they keep saying there's not enough stuff for them to do.

Oh what do I do when they are soaking wet? Change their clothes? I've made a lot of clothes for them. Why don't they just change to whatever they want themselves?

[Glerk]

There's nothing you can do when they're soaking wet, it's just a mood debuff for being out in the rain

[Narrowmind]

Originally posted by Just A Cat:

Originally posted by gussmed:

The key hint is usually the "Needs" tab. It lists a bunch of positive and negative factors. You want to do something about factors that are giving them negative moods, like sleeping in the cold, sleeping on the ground, eating without a table, etc.

Note that colonists will still fight now and then regardless of mood, just because they don't like each other. Generally this is because they've got wildly conflicting traits, like lazy and hard working.

I didn't realize this game would be this complicated when I bought it. There is so much micromanagement. 😭😭😭😭They complain about everything. Now I'm gonna build a separate dining hall and recreation area. I got them everything in the recreation box but they keep saying there's not enough stuff for them to do.

Oh what do I do when they are soaking wet? Change their clothes? I've made a lot of clothes for them. Why don't they just change to whatever they want themselves?

LOL you're right! Players in this game swim in a veritable sea of micromanagement, and for many of us, that's the draw. But don't worry, we were all once where you are. You've chosen a great game.

[Just A Cat]

Originally posted by GlerkTheFlurp:

There's nothing you can do when they're soaking wet, it's just a mood debuff for being out in the rain

Bummer. It's raining season now and everyone is always wet. :(

[Narrowmind]

Well, actually, you can just zone them inside until it stops raining and they won't get rained on, if it really matters to you, but it's really nothing.

[Just A Cat]

Originally posted by Ratlegion:

LOL you're right! Players in this game swim in a veritable sea of micromanagement, and for many of us, that's the draw. But don't worry, we were all once where you are. You've chosen a great game.

It is a good game. So addictive. But frustrating too because there's so much stuff to do. I played Harvest Moon when I was little. But it was so much easier. Then I've only been playing a fashion game in which all I do is to dress the characters nicely. LOL And something like Candy Crush. I never had to worry about my tiny people getting killed or killing each other like this game. And any little thing can make them upset! It's like they have periods all year round. 😂😂😂😂

Oh I bought the Royalty too. I can imagine how annoying the royal people would be. 😂😂😂😂

[Just A Cat]

Originally posted by Ratlegion:

Well, actually, you can just zone them inside until it stops raining and they won't get rained on, if it really matters to you, but it's really nothing.

How do you do that? Just keep them inside?

[Narrowmind]

It's going to get really hard most likely. Have you tried Stardew Valley or My Time at Portia? Probably a lot more what you're looking for, to compare to harvest moon.

[Narrowmind]

Originally posted by Just A Cat:

Originally posted by Ratlegion:

Well, actually, you can just zone them inside until it stops raining and they won't get rained on, if it really matters to you, but it's really nothing.

How do you do that? Just keep them inside?

I'm the menu (architect) lower left, go to, areas/zone and there's an option for allowed area. Name a new one and select your inside environment. You also need to manually change the allowed area from the restriction tab, I think.

[Just A Cat]

Originally posted by Ratlegion:

It's going to get really hard most likely. Have you tried Stardew Valley or My Time at Portia? Probably a lot more what you're looking for, to compare to harvest moon.

No. Honestly I'm not a gamer. :P I was just bored because I didn't have to work and YouTube suggested this. Someone I know played this game and he played it all day, so I thought I'd give it a try. And I stayed up all night trying to keep these tiny people happy. But they still died! I think I had to build a new colony 5 times already. 😂

I just wanna build something nice before I go back to work haha. But gosh they make it so hard.

[Narrowmind]

Yes, it's something like a communicable illness, dare i say, virus. Lol

[Just A Cat]

Originally posted by Ratlegion:

Yes, it's something like a communicable illness, dare i say, virus. Lol

How do you hire wires? They are everywhere.