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[Pro-tip:]

On many an occasion I've found myself wondering why colonists are doing random things, usually finding out why by accident or through trial and error. I thought a collective thread of advice and tips for random stuff going on would be useful, and could also be used for general advice that might not be so obvious on the face of things. Let's start with one that had plagued me for ages until I figured it out last night;

Pro-tip: Can't figure out why colonists are wandering to random places when idle or binging? Check your tables; They have a "gather spot" that can be switched on or off, and idle/binging colonists will gather around tables with the gather spot on. Several small tables in close proximity (i.e. in a prison complex) will have a higher gathering affect than a single long table (i.e. one in your communal area), causing colonists to gather in the prison complex rather than where you want them.

And one that's simple, but easily overlooked;

Pro-tip: For efficient temperature management and happy colonists, set heaters to a few degrees lower than your coolers (I typically use 18 and 21). They will only heat and cool when outside of this temperature range and will idle when in it, using only 10W and 20W respectively. Note that larger rooms will require more heaters/coolers, especially during heat waves or cold snaps. Setting the coolers/heaters to the same temperature will cause both to run at full power as they're fighting each other.

Over in the Changelog thread there's a bit of discussion about this...

Doctors now automatically rescue downed colonists.

... and how this will likely end up with people's doctors ambling about a battlefield getting filled with holes rather than being in the base filling holes, and how it'll likely turn into a micromanagement fustercluck or something. Then I hit upon an idea (which would take the place of the above) that should address most issues.

A Drafted Paramedic/Combat Medic (which, for brevity, we'll refer to as "Medic(s)") would be a colonist whose sole job is to rescue and treat downed colonists, as the doctors will do as of A10. They would be set after initially drafting a colonist using another button that appears next to the draft button when the selected colonist has the required prerequisites; these would be that they are at least capable of doctoring and are carrying a personal shield. Perhaps also the requirement of a medical bed; Not sure on that though. Whilst drafted as a Medic, they would seek out downed colonists, recover them to a safe distance and treat them on the spot using a combat dressing. Your doctors or other free colonists could then recover the wounded to a bed for further treatment. Undrafting them as a Medic would return them to their normal drafted state, allowing you control over them if you decide they're wandering into too much danger or you don't need a Medic right now.

Some points:
- Medics would be marked, perhaps by wearing a hat with a red cross or by making the personal shield red/green etc., to easily identify them from your other drafted colonists. Some other form of marking could be used to indicate which drafted colonists are capable of being a Medic.
- The personal shield would afford them some protection from gunfire whilst they tend to the wounded. In basebuilder mode, medics wouldn't be attacked. Something about Geneva or whatever.
- "safe distance" could be determined by many things. Out of range of ranged weapons outside of the home zone (in the direction of it) seems to make sense to me. If they are inside the home zone, Medics should recover the wounded to a bed, perhaps only treating them on the spot if they're close to death.
- Medics could prioritise based on proximity to the closest available bed, starting with the furthest colonist away. Once they have treated or recovered [to a bed] all downed colonists, they would return to the battlefield. This could be done by routing to the injured colonist farthest away from them.
- A combat dressing would be a temporary dressing that would stem the blood flow for a given time, to be replaced by doctors later. Once backpacks/carrying items is in, this dressing could require medicine (perhaps used at a lower rate then proper treatment?), which would also then make it a prerequisite for being a Medic. If the bandage is not replaced in enough time, bleeding will start again.
- Medics, being the non-combatants that they are, wouldn't fight. To make them fight, they could either be undrafted as a Medic, or giving them an attack order would automatically undraft them (or maybe either), depending on which one causes the least arseache.

There may be a few more issues to consider that elude me at the moment, but that's basically it.

Release the hounds. /Montgomery_Burns

I've been Rimming for some time (quiet at the back) and my new colonies these days don't get the Nutrient Paste Dispenser as it's almost entirely a waste of time when compared to cooking, and also gives no real advantage in any other situation owing to the way it works (or, in the case of power outages, doesn't). Well, some comments kicking about the forum and a few solar flares later and I've had some ideas for the NPD that could potentially bring it back into contention as a "useful thing".

Currently, the NPD takes raw food via a hopper and converts that raw food to nutrient paste when a colonist uses it, providing it has food to paste and power to do the pasting. As it gives a -8 mood debuff and switches off with everything else during power outages, it's basically pointless at the moment. Here are my thoughts/suggestions to change it and make it a more viable option for colonies...

- NPD takes food from a hopper as normal
- Whilst powered, the NPD pastes the food put into the hopper and stores it in that enormous tank (the rate this occurs at could be varied to add balance)
- This continues to occur whilst the NPD has food in the hopper and is connected to a power supply. (Perhaps bills could be set to determine how much food goes into it, or perhaps its capacity could be the equivalent of n number of cooked meals or something).
- The NPD doesn't require power to deliver the paste once produced (gravity feed system) and so would continue to provide paste during power outages, assuming there's enough paste left in the tank to do so.
- (Optional) reduce the debuff a few points

The above suggestion should bring the NPD back into contention as a useful thing to have and would go some way to mitigating the impact of solar flares, which are a total shitbrick on times, as your colonists would at least not be eating raw food.