Mission 9 questions

[Matthew Daly]

I've won the slugpod level, but don't want to go on to the siren level until I really start grokking some of what's going on here.

- I've seen slugs stop in the hallway, shake a little, and generate litter. Is that turdite? It doesn't seem to me to be anything other than normal trash. My entertainment deck has such things as a roulesse wheel, an Oroflex, a Palace Galactica, and a Curiosity Shop, but no Slugpartments yet.

- When visitors are paying for things (like love nests or sick bays, probably other things too), there are usually two numbers generated. I can tell that one of them is the cost of the service, but then another is sort of like a 38% tax. What's up with that?

- What would comprise a sensible sick bay? I still haven't seen my z-ray scanner get used, and the operating table only very rarely. Waste of space??

- My lab is 4x4, with an analyzer (oh, sorry, "analyser";)) and two microscopes. They won't let me replace the microscopes with replicators, though. Is there a better lab footprint?

- How much of my tech tree is carried over to the next level? Do autopsies do anything useful for me?

- Do I want a temple on my station? Seems like there are much easier ways of raising 5000e.

- Is there a way to create my own ore? I've researched it, but it doesn't show up in my factory list.

[MR?]

1. Try holding the cursor above the "litter". If it shows turdie then it it turdite but if it just shows litter then the slug just have dropped some trash. Turdite is blue.

2. Im not sure but i think that the other number is the extra money that the peeps may give.

3. To cure the more powerful disseases you need a z-ray scanner and a midebed but only one scanner and one(maybe two) medibeds.

4. I haven´t played startopia in a while now and im not sure about lab footprints.

5. Nothing of your tech treeis carried to the next level at any level. There is no level after the siren one(if the downloadable targatelli level dont count).

6. If you have many skilled priests you will get pretty much money from temples.

7. Im not sure about ore. I cant remember building ore at the factory and i dont think there are any ore trees.

[Mucky Foot]

Slugs have to be really very happy to give you turdite. Really really happy.

The second number is a tip. The happier the peep is, the more of a tip they'll give you.

Some of the lab equipment doesn't fit in some places - I think it's a silly bug we never spotted or fixed.

You can't make mineral ores, you have to buy them. Remember that selling mineral and food-based stuff from the Vendomat makes a lot more money than just plain energy-based nourishment. Remember to enable those two food types whenever you build a Vendomat.

Tech trees are carried over in some cases, but I forget exactly what the circumstances are. Basically, the more you research, the more you will have next level. But if you've got this far, you should be fine with what you have on the siren level.

And finally, there are some really good user-made missions out there - definately worth playing some of them.

TomF - Muckyfoot coder.

[marrip]

The standard lab footprint I use is a 6 x 6 square (usable space). I used to think I had to leave a "corridor" to allow my peeps to get to a workbench from the doorway, but apparently they don't need one. the layout I use looks something like this:

123456
123456
77800d
998AAA
113AAA
223AAA

Key: numbers represent workbenches, workstations, etc.
d=doorway, A=analyser.

Note: workbenches seem to go anywhere, but workstations (and more advanced stations like microscopes, etc.) don't seem to want to fit into the corners of the room.

I find that the bigger a given room (of any type) is, the more efficiently it uses floor(deck)space, assuming you have used all the space available for furnature. The only reason you would want to build smaller rooms is to attract more peeps of the type that likes that room. Also having multiple rooms spread out allows your peeps to get to them quicker, so they are happier about it.

[Hand-E-Food]

Spreading rooms out isn't always the best idea. I had four Research Labs spread out evenly across the station, and all of the staff went to the one in the lowest numbered segment, so all projects in the other three were permenantly on hold.