RimWorld: Resource Gathering and Management

Welcome to RimWorld: Resource Gathering and Management - your essential guide to thriving on the harsh, outer RimWorlds. Mastering resource management is the cornerstone of colony success, ensuring survival and prosperity in even the most hostile environments. In this article, uncover vital strategies for efficient farming and food production, delve into the best practices for mining and resource collection, and learn the art of managing stockpiles and storage. We also explore the dynamics of trading and bartering, and provide invaluable tips for resource efficiency that are guaranteed to make your colony flourish. Dive in and transform your colony from struggling settlers to self-sufficient pioneers!

Efficient Farming and Food Production

Farming in RimWorld is crucial for the survival of your colony. Managing your food production well can make the difference between thriving settlers and desperate, starving people. Here’s how you can get your farms up and running efficiently.

Setting Up Your Growing Zones

First things first: designate your growing zones. Go to the Zones/Areas tab and select Growing Zone. Make sure you choose fertile ground--look for rich soil which gives a 140% yield boost. This can be the difference between a small harvest and a bountiful one.

Once your zones are established, click on the zone and select which crops to plant. Early in the game, focus on fast-growing crops like:

• Rice: Grows quickly and can be harvested sooner than other crops.
• Potatoes: Slightly longer to grow but hardy in poor soil.
• Corn: Takes a long time to grow but produces large quantities of food.

Crop Rotation and Diversity

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your crops to avoid disasters like blights. If you’re growing only one type of crop and a blight hits, you could lose everything. A good mix of rice, corn, and potatoes keeps your colony safe and fed.

Keeping Plants Alive

Temperature and light are important for the growth of your crops.

• Temperature: Most plants need temperatures between 10°C and 42°C to grow. Construct sun lamps and heaters in indoors growing areas to maintain optimal conditions.
• Light: Outdoor crops rely on natural light but can be limited by seasonal changes. During winter, consider building hydroponics basins indoors under sun lamps.

Hydroponics: Next-Level Farming

Hydroponics allows for faster growth cycles and isn’t dependent on soil fertility. This setup, though energy-intensive, can be a game-changer during long winters or on maps with poor soil quality. To set it up:

1. Build a room with adequate space and temperature control.
2. Place hydroponics basins and sun lamps inside.
3. Make sure you have a consistent power supply. Solar panels and batteries work wonders.

Hunting and Animal Husbandry

Farming alone might not be enough. Supplement your food supply through hunting and raising animals.

Hunting

Send pawns with good shooting skills to hunt wildlife. Beware of large animals like elephants or rhinos--they fight back. Always draft multiple colonists for big game hunting to ensure safety.

Animal Husbandry

Tame animals for a steady food supply. Start with easy animals like chickens or rabbits. Build animal pens and assign colonists with high Animal Handling skills. Benefits include:

• Milk and Eggs: Reliable, renewable food sources.
• Meat: Slaughter animals when necessary.
• Wool: Trade or use for clothing.

Storage and Preservation

Proper storage extends the shelf life of your food. Build a walk-in freezer to keep food frozen indefinitely.

• Temperature: Maintain it below 0°C (32°F).
• Shelves: Use shelves to organize and prevent spoilage.
• Defenses: Keep it secure from raiders and wild animals.

Cooking and Meal Management

An efficient kitchen is key. Set up a clean, indoor kitchen with a stove and a butcher table. Assign a skilled cook to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

• Simple Meals: Basic but keeps your colonists fed.
• Fine Meals: Requires more ingredients but gives a mood boost.
• Lavish Meals: Not necessary early on but great for morale in established colonies.

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Efficient farming and food production ensure that your colony thrives through harsh winters, raids, and other disasters. With these tips, you'll manage not just to survive, but truly thrive on the rimworld. Time to get those crops planted!

DUdTEY

RimWorld: Resource Gathering and Management

Mining and Resource Collection

If you want to survive in RimWorld, you're going to need resources. From building your first shelter to crafting essential items, your survival relies heavily on gathering materials from the environment. Here's a deeper dive into mining and resource collection to keep your colony thriving.

Starting with Basics

Before you even think about mining, make sure you have a capable colonist. Check their mining skill--higher numbers mean faster digging and more goodies. You don’t want your best cook spending days chipping away at rocks.

Locating Resources

Open up your map and start scanning for mineral-rich areas. You can identify them by the different shades and textures on the ground. Common resources you'll come across include:

• Steel: Super important for just about everything, from building structures to crafting weapons.
• Components: These little bits are crucial for advanced tech but are a bit harder to spot. Look for small clumps scattered across the map.
• Plasteel: Rare but vital, especially late-game. It's stronger and lighter than steel.
• Gold, Uranium, and Jade: Mostly for trading or high-tier crafting.

Getting to Work

Once you’ve found resources, it’s time to designate mining zones. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Orders menu.
2. Select Mine.
3. Click and drag over the areas you want to mine.

Your colonists will automatically get to work. Make sure you keep an eye on them. Mining can be dangerous, and the slower the miner, the more likely they could end up in a cave-in.

Efficient Mining

For efficient mining, have a dedicated miner with a high skill level. Equip them with the best tools you have to speed things along. As they gain experience, they'll get even faster, and the chance of collapsing tunnels will reduce.

Managing Your Resources

Now you’ve got chunks of steel and other goodies, but what’s next? Organization is key. Create stockpile zones near your base to keep everything tidy. That way, materials are easy to access when constructing or crafting.

Advanced Tips

• Deep Drilling: Once you’ve researched the appropriate tech, you can build deep drills that pull up resources from beneath the surface. You won’t know what’s there until you start drilling, so it’s a bit of a gamble.
• Resource Scanning: Use ground-penetrating scanners to find the best places for deep drilling.
• Conservation: Be mindful of how you use rare materials. Items like plasteel shouldn't be wasted on unnecessary things. Save them for when you really need that extra durability or strength.

Power is Essential

While you’re mining, don’t forget you’ll need power to keep everything running smoothly. Set up wind turbines, solar panels, or even geothermal plants near your base to keep the lights on and the work happening 24/7.

Protect Your Miners

Mining can attract raiders or wild animals. Make sure you have defenses in place around important mining areas. Sniper turrets or a few well-placed traps can make all the difference.

In RimWorld, resource gathering and mining are the bedrock of everything you do. Keep a steady flow of materials coming in, and your colony will be ready to face whatever the rim throws at you!

Stockpile Basics

In RimWorld, managing your stockpiles is key to keeping your colony running smoothly. Stockpiles are zones where your colonists will store various items, from food and medicine to raw materials and weapons. To create a stockpile, go to the 'Zone/Area' tab, select 'Stockpile zone,' and drag it across the area you want to designate for storage.

Types of Stockpiles

You can customize stockpiles to store specific items or item categories. Here’s a quick rundown of the basic types:

• General Stockpiles: A bit of everything goes here. This is good for starting out, but eventually, you'll want to specialize.
• Specialized Stockpiles: Only store one type of item, like raw food or manufactured goods. This helps organize and keep your colony efficient.

To customize a stockpile, click on it and then use the 'Storage' settings. You can set priorities, allowing you to prioritize crucial items like medicine or food.

Stockpile Priorities

Setting priorities can make or break your colony’s efficiency:

• Critical: Items get moved here first before any other place.
• Important: Only secondary to Critical.
• Preferred: Middle ground; useful when you don’t have 'Critical' needs.
• Normal: Default setting; adequate for general use.
• Low: Last resort; used for overflow or less important items.

For instance, you might want the freezer where you store food to be 'Critical' so that food doesn’t rot outside.

Efficient Storage Practices

Temperature Matters: Different items have various temperature needs. Food needs refrigeration to avoid spoiling, so set up cold storage or a dedicated freezer room. Drugs and medicine can benefit from cold storage but aren't as critical as food.

Proximity: Try to place stockpiles close to where items are used. For example, have a weapons stockpile near your armory and a raw food stockpile near your kitchen.

Stack Limits: Understanding that items have stack limits is crucial. For example, meals can be stacked up to 10 per tile while raw materials like steel stack up to 75. This helps you know how large or small your stockpile zone needs to be.

Shelving and Storage Enhancements

Shelves: Shelves can store two stacks of items instead of one, effectively doubling the space in a single tile. This is great for compact storage, especially for critical items.

Tidy Up: Consider building rooms specifically for storage and organizing your stockpiles within them. This keeps everything neat and helps colonists find the items they need faster.

Managing Rot and Deterioration

Items left outside will deteriorate over time, especially in harsh weather conditions. To avoid this:

• Build Roofs: Even an open but roofed area will protect items from rain and snow.
• Indoor Storage: For valuable items and things that deteriorate quickly, an indoor storage room is essential.
• Preservation: Use refrigeration for perishable items like food. Medicine can also deteriorate but more slowly compared to food.

Managing Overflow

As your colony grows, managing stockpile overflow becomes essential:

• Regular Clean-Up: Periodically check and clean your stockpiles. Dump unwanted items or trade them away.
• Dumping Zones: Use these for waste, corpses, and items you plan to dispose of. Setting one up far from your main base keeps ugliness away.
• Trade Runs: Keep an eye on traders visiting your settlement. Offloading excess goods helps manage stock and brings in useful items or silver.

Final Tips

• Keep it Accessible: Don’t block access to stockpiles with walls or other objects.
• Monitor and Adjust: Based on your colony's needs and growth, regularly update stockpile settings and priorities.
• Watch the Health: Always keep an eye on food spoiling and item deterioration warnings.

A well-organized stockpile system can mean the difference between a thriving colony and a chaotic mess. Get those stockpiles in order, and your colonists will be happier and more productive!

Trading and Bartering

In RimWorld, trading and bartering are essential skills for thriving in the harsh, unpredictable biomes of the rim. Here’s everything you need to know to get the most out of your trade deals.

Setting Up a Trade Beacon

First things first, you’ll need to set up a trade beacon. This device helps traders know where to drop off and pick up goods. Here’s a quick guide to setting one up:

1. Research: Before you can build a trade beacon, make sure you’ve researched microelectronics.
2. Build: Go to the Miscellaneous tab and select the Orbital Trade Beacon.
3. Placement: Place the beacon in an area where you store valuable goods. The beacon covers a circular area, so position it wisely!

Once your beacon is set up, your colony is ready for some trading action.

Incoming Trade Ships

Trade ships randomly visit, and you’ll get a notification when they arrive. Here’s how you can engage with them:

1. Comms Console: Alongside your trade beacon, you need a Comms Console. This lets you hail the ships and see what they’re selling.
2. Select a Negotiator: Pick a colonist with a high social skill to get better deals. The higher their skill, the more favorable the trades will be.

Land-Based Caravans

Besides trade ships, land-based caravans from other factions will visit your colony. You’ll get a visual cue and notification when they arrive:

1. Meet and Greet: Select a colonist to speak with the caravan leader.
2. Trade Screen: Similar to trade ships, you get a trade screen showing their goods and their willingness to buy your stuff.

What to Trade

Not sure what to trade? Here are some high-demand items you can focus on:

• Medicines: Always in high demand, good for trading and essential for your own use.
• Weapons and Armor: Surplus weapons and armor can fetch high prices.
• Food: Meals, raw crops, and animals are always sought after.
• Components: These are precious for building advanced structures and sell for a high price.
• Drugs: Items like smokeleaf and yayo can bring in a lot of silver, but trading these may have ethical and legal implications with certain factions.

Negotiating Better Deals

Boosting your social skills isn’t the only way to get better deals. Consider these tips:

• Reputation: Maintain good relations with other factions. Helping them in times of need can lead to better trade terms.
• Timing: Prices can vary. Pay attention to market fluctuations and characteristics like scarcity in the winter months.

Forming Trade Caravans

If you’re looking to be proactive, why not form your own trade caravan? Here’s how:

1. Caravan Tab: Select the Caravan tab and pick which colonists and animals will go.
2. Route Planning: Choose your destination wisely; more friendly factions means safer routes.
3. Provisions: Ensure you have enough food and medicine for the journey.

When your caravan reaches another faction, they’ll be able to trade and sometimes even take on special missions or quests.

Commandments of a Good Trader

1. Always Haggle: Even tiny savings add up over time.
2. Keep Your Stockpile Varied: You never know what traders will want.
3. Don’t Ignore Small Stuff: Small trades can lead to large alliances.

By following these guidelines, you’ll convert your colony from a struggling outpost to a trading powerhouse. So, get out there and start making those deals count!

Tips for Resource Efficiency

Managing resources efficiently in RimWorld can be the difference between thriving or barely surviving. Here's a rundown of practical tips to make sure your colony gets the most out of what you have.

Prioritize Essential Resources

First things first, focus on the basics:

• Food: Keep a consistent food supply by growing crops and hunting. Corn, rice, and potatoes are reliable staples.
• Medicine: Healroot is essential for crafting herbal medicine.
• Steel and Wood: These are crucial for building and crafting. Always have a decent stockpile.

Efficient Hunting and Farming

Hunting and farming wisely can save a lot of trouble:

• Hunt Large Animals: Animals like alpacas and muffalos yield more meat and leather per kill.
• Rotate Crops: Avoid soil exhaustion by rotating your crops. It maximizes yield over time.
• Hydroponics: If you have the tech, hydroponics bays are an efficient use of space for plant growth.

Smart Building Practices

Building efficiently can save resources:

• Compact Bases: Smaller, compact bases use fewer materials and are easier to heat or cool.
• Use Natural Terrain: Carve rooms and storage areas into hills or mountains to save building material.
• Recycle and Reclaim: Deconstruct old structures and outdated facilities to reuse the materials.

Optimize Your Workforce

Colonist labor can make or break your resource supply:

• Skill Matching: Assign tasks based on colonists' skills. Better skills reduce waste and increase productivity.
• Work Schedules: Use night shifts if possible to keep productivity up around the clock.
• Prioritize Tasks: Use the priority system to ensure critical tasks are done first.

Energy Management

Power can be a critical resource:

• Renewable Energy: Wind turbines and solar panels are good for sustainable energy.
• Battery Storage: Always have batteries to store excess power for nighttime or low-wind periods.
• Efficient Layouts: Position refrigerators and heaters centrally to minimize energy loss.

Trade Smart

Trading can be a great way to acquire resources:

• Know Your Market: Understand what your colony produces efficiently and trade for resources you're lacking.
• Craft High-Value Goods: Items like drugs, weapons, and art can fetch high prices.
• Caravans: Send out caravans to trade with other factions. Make sure they’re well-protected though!

Waste Nothing

Conserve and recycle wherever possible:

• Compost Dead Animals: Use unwanted animal corpses in bioreactors or for compost.
• Smelt Old Weapons: Turn old weapons into useful metal.
• Efficient Storage: Use shelves to keep items from decaying and contaminating each other.

Research for Efficiency

Research can unlock efficiency boosts:

• Power: Research battery technology, geothermal power, and advanced solar panels early.
• Food Production: Hydroponics, nutrient paste dispensers, and advanced cooking unlocks save time and food.
• Material Efficiency: Research stonecutting, machining and smithing to turn raw resources into high-value goods.

Conclusion

Keep an eye on your resources and always look for ways to be more efficient. With thoughtful planning and smart management, your colony can not only survive but thrive. Stick to these tips, and you'll master RimWorld's resource management in no time. Happy building!