Nutrient paste dispenser why build them??

[kasimirtlw]

I'n my recent games i discovered that i basically never build this nutrient paste dispenser.
why would you as a cook is so easy to make meals and you don't get the penalty from eating the  food unlike the past the dispenser gives. Do others use this device and why?
i'm curious to find out

[iame6162013]

I do, sometimes cause food is sometimes quite scare and yea,
Nutrient paste is quite food efficient.

[Listy]

I generally don't use them. They used to be useful ass a back up in a prison, when the prisoners would self feed. That way when you had a particularly bad sequence of events your cluster of future brainwashee's wouldn't starve.

I could see a Paste dispenser being useful if you didn't get Hydroponics up and running in time for winter though. Might try that, tundra and no hydroponics. But I doubt it'd work, as you'd still need some food production to keep it fed.

[milon]

In terms of food per meal, NPD is the cheapest option. Useful if you're in a tight place and need to conserve food.

[Tasty]

 I never built NPDs for the longest time until recently, and it actually was really helpful. I'm in a tundra right now in the middle of winter and I started running out of the agave we bought; only had about 15 left with 3 colonists and a prisoner to feed. I don't have my greenhouse set up yet so I can't grow anything and the only animals in sight were squirrels, so what I did was disconnect my stove and turn on the good ol' NPD. We managed to get by on squirrel meat alone for days after nearing starvation, until we found some elk in the area to hunt and managed to get back on our feet. We never would've been able to get by with only a stove seeing as I don't think you get enough meat from a squirrel for even one meal.

So in extreme hot or cold climates it comes in handy. In areas with long growing periods and animals that roam around a lot, a NPD isn't as necessary.

[Shaithis]

It's also a time saver when you don't have many colonists (like at the start). There is no time lost with a colonist dedicated to cooking meals. Paste is ready to go at any time with a push of a button! Your would be chef can do other things like tend to the wounded or build that solar farm you need so badly.

[Match]

I generally don't use them. They used to be useful ass a back up in a prison, when the prisoners would self feed. That way when you had a particularly bad sequence of events your cluster of future brainwashee's wouldn't starve.

I could see a Paste dispenser being useful if you didn't get Hydroponics up and running in time for winter though. Might try that, tundra and no hydroponics. But I doubt it'd work, as you'd still need some food production to keep it fed.

I was just watching an A8 let's play where someone's prisoners were eating out of a NP dispenser located in the prison room. I haven't tried it myself yet, but once I get some time this morning I'll post back with my results.

[Coenmcj]

I never built NPDs for the longest time until recently, and it actually was really helpful. I'm in a tundra right now in the middle of winter and I started running out of the agave we bought; only had about 15 left with 3 colonists and a prisoner to feed. I don't have my greenhouse set up yet so I can't grow anything and the only animals in sight were squirrels, so what I did was disconnect my stove and turn on the good ol' NPD. We managed to get by on squirrel meat alone for days after nearing starvation, until we found some elk in the area to hunt and managed to get back on our feet. We never would've been able to get by with only a stove seeing as I don't think you get enough meat from a squirrel for even one meal.

So in extreme hot or cold climates it comes in handy. In areas with long growing periods and animals that roam around a lot, a NPD isn't as necessary.

I'm currently in the middle of a game with the ice sheet mod, on a world where it gets to -90^o C, And the NPD has surely saved my colony's life, With nothing to hunt and limited growing space, you need to conserve food until you can construct hydroponics and the Paste dispenser sure does conserve food; sloppy paste meal after sloppy paste meal...

[woolfoma]

useful ass

I like useful ass's 

[RemingtonRyder]

I assume that you need to find some way to keep the food frozen while it's in the hopper, to avoid losing it to spoilage. I haven't got around to building an NPD in Alpha 8, but yeah, there's a lot of hours spent preparing food at a stove. It's enough to keep one colonist tied up for most of the day.

[Hugglesgerbil]

I read you could stick the NPD with the distribution end facing one way, and wall the back end into a freezer and put the hoppers in there.

[Kinakin]

Nutrient paste while time efficient still feels like it lacks a upside for the long term use.
I mean with the addition of beeing able to conserve meals and food it feels like ut needs a redo in some way.

Maybe make it able to make more neutrious and tasty food trough research. Or make it able to produce stuff automatically. Like dried/salted/powdered foods that lasts for years but isnt very tasty.  Or heck make it more efficient in regards to neutrional value and raw materials.

I just feels it needs something more to be competative with basic meals. I never produce anything but basic meals as in the early game to mid game the amount of meals required isnt that high and the mood modifiers can be cruicial. At mid to late game I usually have the food production capacity high enough and the amount of people that I can easily spare one or two to be all but constantly making food.  Having a large stockpile of basic meals to get me through prelonged attacks.

But for the end game the problem with both methods is just having to ability to move raw materials and finished products around fast enough that becomes the biggest issue.

[mega]

Honestly, I just completed a Tundra game without a NPD. I really dont see the purpose. There is always wild game wandering into the map.

[evrett33]

can you put human meat in them and get normal paste ?

[Sir Wagglepuss III]

I like building NPD's as I like watching my colonists suffer in the cold. :p

Sure you've got heating indoors, sure you've got some sturdy buildings, but it's -20 celcius outside and you're eating goop for a living, now mine you dogs! xD