Extractor AI

For anyone confused on how the extractor AI works, I have created a very brief guide

How to Force the AI ON

The Extractor AI tech sounds good since it allows for metal extractors and rare metal extractors to work without workers. It may make the extractor work at less efficiency, but how do you get it to turn on in AI mode? If you're as stupid as I am, you may not be able to figure it out since it can be a little awkward.

The first thing to note is that the AI will automatically turn on IF NO WORKERS ARE PRESENT AND THE SHIFTS ARE TURNED ON. This means the shifts can be CLOSED so that the AI will be forced to turn on. If workers appear, fire them and close all shifts. This is how to force the AI to turn on. As you can see in the screenshot, all shifts are TURNED ON AND CLOSED, however, the extractor is still running.

Useful Tips

The extractor AI can be extremely useful for these reasons:

• You can place extractors away from domes, this means you don't have to spend tons of resources and time just to get some more metal
  
• If you have enough energy during the night, you can enable night shifts without any penalties to sanity or moral

These are things that can help SO MUCH at any point in the game. This is the most confusing tech in my opinion but it is really important at the same time. If you had trouble understanding it don't feel bad since i'm sure others did too :)

[demonmill17]

yeah, dont do this. right click on the worker slot inside an open shift to turn that slot off while shift is open. close all slots and leave shift open. ai will kick in

[joshldiesel]

Straight up does not work. If you turn off all the shifts at the metal extractor it automatically turns the extractor off. I don't know how you got that screen cap unless they've changed it in an update.

[nora]

What sucks about the extractor AI tech is that you can only get it in a breakthrough.

[Pwner’s Manual]

If you use multiple extractors and don't scrub them, they'll break down a lot. GAMERS call that bleeding machine parts.

[Pwner’s Manual]

Don't forget: If you scrub them, you can have a bunch of extractors mining from the same deposit without having to come up with workers. That means you can negate the performance penalty caused by not having workers, simply by using more hammers. They do kick up dust that gets on nearby buildings, so place three triboelectric scrubbers in a triangle around the area if you have unlocked them.