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Blizzard_Haemimont

Second Lieutenant
1 Badges
Nov 7, 2017
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  • Haemimont Games Staff
I've been watching quite a lot of streams and youtube videos recently and feel generally giddy about the upcoming release. Here is a list of several obscure mini-features and UI conveniences that are not as obvious as we hoped they would be and may be useful to you all when the game releases:

  • Dome filters - accessed by the first button in any Dome infopanel. Used for management of automatic migration between Domes and desired Dome population. Can also be used to inspect the traits of the Colonists within a Dome.
  • Inspecting citizens by trait - accessed by double-clicking on a trait name in the Dome filter UI. Citizens with the selected trait within the Dome are cycled through buttons in their infopanel.
  • Managing all buildings of the same type - many infopanel buttons allow CTRL-click for changing the setting for all buildings of the same type in the colony (e.g. for managing priority). Salvage is a deliberate exception.
  • Heavy workload - toggled by a button next to the workshift of a building staffed by colonists. Heavy workload increases building performance, but inflicts Sanity and Health penalties.
  • Building upgrades - clickable icons located at the top right of the infopanel when available.
  • Customizing Universal Storage - accessed by clicking on the Basic/Advanced resources section. Forbidding Fuel and Food in some storages may be a good idea.
  • Encyclopedia Feature - accessed from the in-game menu. Although rule articles there are not comprehensive, they can be useful for beginners.
  • Change skins - available at the bottom of the infopanel of some units and buildings. Can be fun for players who like decorating and customizing their colonies.
  • Pin/unpin - again, available at the bottom of the infopanel. Useful for keeping track of your favorite buildings and colonists.
  • Cycle visual variants - use [ or ] during placement of decorations and some buildings to explore different visual variants for them.
  • Custom transport loadout - when selecting the resources to load on a transport, CTRL-click to add 5 units of a resource, right-click to confirm
  • Photo mode - accessed from the in-game menu. Awesome for taking cinematic screenshots without the pesky UI.
  • Rocket automated mode - accessed from the infopanel. Activate to make rockets launch automatically when they are refueled and fully loaded with Rare Metals.
  • Rocket forbid exports - accessed from the infopanel. Activate to forbid the export of Rare Metals in the particular rocket (in case you want to stockpile them for Electronics).
  • NEW: Close work and residential slots - done by right-clicking on them
  • NEW: Power/Life support networks are less prone to failure when they are smaller
  • NEW: Place multiple buildings of the same type - hold Shift while placing
  • NEW: Rotate buildings when placing them - push middle mouse button or use R and T
  • NEW: New technologies are highlighted in the research UI until you rollover the mouse pointer over them
  • NEW: Start researching a tech immediately instead of adding it to the queue - CTRL+left-click over the research icon
  • NEW: Service areas of drone controllers are customizable. It may often be more efficient to reduce some service areas - drones will work much faster when they don't have to travel far.

Hope this is useful to you! Will keep updating this if I think of something else. For the people that already have early access to the game or have been watching videos - feel free to add your own!
 
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And despite all of these handy features, we still don't get the option to have everyone's favourite El Presidente Sponsor our space mission :( :p

But thanks for pointing out the useful features, will be sure to abuse them when the game releases on the 15th :D
 
  • Dome filters - accessed by the first button in any Dome infopanel. Allows management of automatic migration between Domes and Dome population.
I experienced that, but you know how it ended ^^
Very useful (but there's a little bug if you set too much filters on several far away domes), I'm only filtering one thing per dome for now.

  • Inspecting citizens by trait - accessed by double-clicking on a trait name in the Dome filter UI. Citizens with the selected trait within the Dome are cycled through buttons in their infopanel.
Nice, I didn't know that, also, how can I just cycle through all the citizens of a dome, or all domes ?
For now I have to find one walking in the dome and click on it.

  • Heavy workload - toggled by a button next to the workshift of a building staffed by colonists. Heavy workload increases building performance, but inflicts Sanity and Health penalties.
Good to know, I did not notice that button.

  • Customizing Universal Storage - accessed by clicking on the Basic/Advanced resources section. Forbidding Fuel and Food in some storages may be a good idea.
That will be definitely very useful, I did not notice that either.


Also, is there some history of deaths with the cause? Sometimes I see the number of total citizens changing a bit but I don't know if someone died or if it was a counting bug when someone moves to another dome.
Does a death always triggers a popup?
For now I'm aware of two deaths, one suffocating from long distance travelling (bug, should not have happened, devs are now aware), and one the founders (natural death, too old).
But I don't know if there was other.
Same question about births, the first one gets a popup, not the following ones.

Another question : how can I see how far I am from one of the milestone goal that poped up (40 or 50 research before Sol 100), I got this popup twice but as I am approaching Sol 100, I wonder if I'll reach the goal, or if I already passed it.


One useful thing about water, power and oxygen (that I miss in Cities Skylines) : knowing how much one network (isolated part of the map) needs and produces, when you have several isolated domes or buildings.
Just select one of the building (producing or needing power for example), then over the mouse on the power usage/production of this building, then you'll get all the stats of the current network, you even know how much is stored in batteries.
If you deselect it and watch the global info panel, it shows total power/water/O2.
 
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Thanks! I guess this will come handy once I start playing (I'm that kind of person that needs to have hands on to something to really learn... if I don't do something, I forget that quite quick). :rolleyes:

Cheers!
 
Another little thing that might easily escape is the Subsurface Heater has also a service area/range slide in it's menu, you can increase the heated area quite a lot, with the cost of increased power & water consumption.;)
 
I can't believe, I can't remove something just placed, I've tried all kinds of way, nor can I find a tool to do it in the menu.. My mouse likes to contribute to what I'm doing, and does things on it own every now and then, but the fact of it is, I can't move or remove a poorly placed anything. help ..
 
Did you know you forgot to make (or add) a manual?
Did you know there is no proper tutorial either?

Did you know I couldn't make a positive review on Steam because of these 2 important missing items?
 
Did you know you forgot to make (or add) a manual?
Did you know there is no proper tutorial either?

Did you know I couldn't make a positive review on Steam because of these 2 important missing items?
Considering the learning curve is quite shallow, I don't think a Tutorial or Manual is needed.
 
Considering the learning curve is quite shallow, I don't think a Tutorial or Manual is needed.

Agreed. Plus the in-game Encyclopedia covers basically everything a manual would, and the Hint system basically -is- a tutorial. So aside from not really being all that needed, I think you just missed those features.
 
If find them .. I don't remember seeing them.. the problem is placed inncorrectly and prior to being built in most cases, like my finger moves before I have it ready and then it is built.. I've not seen the buttons you speak of but I also wasn't really looking for them there.. I will later today.. I did learn there is a salvage tech you have to research and I've not gotten them far yet..
 
Thank you for this - it was driving me nuts knowing that my various life support resource producers were supposed to be more efficient, but they weren't. Now I know that the buildings can be upgraded I can get them working at full production capability.

It would be handy if there was an icon or notification on mouse over that a building can be upgraded.
 
So many features going unnoticed explained by 2 things : bad design and youtubers/streamers being notoriously bad gamers.
As for the first feature of dome filtering,best not to be discovered as it leads to bugs & frustration.
 
Cycle visual variants - use [ or ] during placement of decorations and some buildings to explore different visual variants for them.

this doesnt work for me... neither with qwertz nor with qwerty keyboard setting?
 
this doesnt work for me... neither with qwertz nor with qwerty keyboard setting?
The [ ] can be keyboard related, I forgot to try with mine, but to have [ I need to press Alt Gr, maybe is the same issue with you? That the keyboard is set as in another language also, from windows settings. But I did found a way to cycle between different visual variants, at least for the living quarters (sorry, I don't remember with which keys, though)