oxygen-not-included game sourced
Oxygen Not Included
A side-view colony sim in which a few duplicants survive inside an asteroid where every tile holds an element with mass and temperature, so air, liquids, heat, and germs flow through the base.
parts
24 mechanics, as Oxygen Not Included does themcore · 6
Byproducts and waste
Machines and duplicants emit polluted water, polluted oxygen, carbon dioxide, and heat; a natural gas generator consumes 90 g/s of gas for 800 W and outputs 67.5 g/s polluted water and 22.5 g/s CO2.
Fluid and gas simulation
Every tile holds one gas, liquid, or solid with a mass; gases diffuse and equalize when a chamber is opened, and liquids drain under gravity, so breathable oxygen must be produced and carbon dioxide managed.
Fluid pipe networks
Gas and liquid pipes carry packets between buildings; a liquid pipe segment holds 10 kg and moves packets once per second, capping a line at 10 kg/s, and pipe contents exchange heat with their tiles.
Heat transfer
Cells exchange heat each 0.2 s tick with q = dT x dt x k x 1000, with multipliers for solid-gas and liquid-liquid contact; insulated tiles divide conductivity, and temperature thresholds melt, freeze, boil, or damage things.
Mood and breakdowns
Morale is the sum of timed buffs (Mess Hall +3, Private Bedroom +3, food up to +16, decor up to +12) compared to an expectation that rises with skills learned; each point under adds 2.5% stress per cycle up to 25%, full stress triggers a stress response, and 8 or more points over can trigger overjoyed responses.
Work priorities
Every errand carries a priority, and each duplicant has per-errand-type priorities on the Priorities screen; duplicants pick the highest available errand and favor tasks they are good at.
supporting · 18
Agent skills
Skill points are spent on skills, which raise morale expectations.
Animal husbandry
Critters are ranched for food and for their conversion of inputs into useful outputs.
Building placement
Contagion
Germs live on tiles, items, gases, and liquids; exposure past per-germ thresholds gives a contraction chance of 0.5 - 0.5 x tanh(resistance / 4).
Crop cultivation
Plants need specific temperatures, atmospheres, and irrigation.
Data overlays
Oxygen, temperature, power, plumbing, and germ overlays show hidden cell state.
Decoration and beauty
Decor around a duplicant is compared to its recent average and feeds morale.
Designation orders
Dig, build, mop, and deconstruct orders placed on tiles.
Modding API
Steam Workshop mods are C# assemblies patched in with Harmony.
Pause and speed control
Personality traits
Traits such as Germ Resistant or Allergies change resistances and stress reactions.
Power grid
Coal, hydrogen, natural gas, and manual generators on wires and batteries; overloaded circuits take damage.
Procedural terrain
Asteroids are procedurally generated.
Room recognition
Enclosed rooms that meet requirements become Mess Halls, Bedrooms, and similar rooms that grant morale buffs.
Signal circuits
Automation wires, sensors, and logic gates control doors, pumps, and generators; extended by the Automation Innovation update.
Spoilage
Food rots unless refrigerated or kept in a sterile atmosphere.
Storage and buffers
Tech tree
Research unlocks buildings.
core loop
dig into the asteroid -> lay out rooms, pipes, and wires -> duplicants perform prioritized errands -> oxygen, heat, germs, and waste redistribute tile by tile -> stress and shortfalls surface -> rebuild toward closed, sustainable loops
design notes
Each cell holds one element with a mass and a temperature, and heat moves between cells every 0.2 s tick by conduction, so insulation, phase changes, and overheating machines follow from one rule rather than from per-building scripts. Most machines emit byproducts (a natural gas generator makes 800 W plus polluted water and carbon dioxide), so the long game is closing loops so waste becomes input. Mood uses a morale-versus-expectation gap: learning skills raises a duplicant's expectation, so better-trained colonists need better food, rooms, and decor. Wikipedia names Dwarf Fortress, Prison Architect, and The Sims as design influences.
appears in
the paper, 3 sections · 6 chapters · 4 episodesWhy deep systems are hard to read
on screen at 3:53 expensive and hidden, 6:17 choosing a point