Critter Pick-Up

Critter Pick-Up is a building-related mechanic that causes Duplicants to automatically deal with surplus Critters on the map. When Critter populations grow beyond what the colony or the player intends, Duplicants will perform the necessary capture or relocation actions without explicit player assignment to each individual animal. This automation reduces micromanagement for population control and allows colonies to maintain Critter-based farms and ecosystems with less direct intervention.

Duplicants will automatically wrangle, capture, or otherwise remove excess Critters when those animals become "surplus." The exact conditions that mark a Critter as surplus are determined by in-game population pressures and the colony’s current handling of those species; the observable effect is that Duplicants take on the work of corralling and moving excess animals rather than leaving them uncontrolled. Because Duplicants carry out these tasks, the colony must still provide accessible paths and the opportunity for Duplicants to reach the animals for the automatic behavior to occur.

Practical notes and interactions:

• Automation benefit: The Critter Pick-Up behavior removes the need to manually prioritize every capture task when Critter numbers climb, streamlining management of breeding pens and wild populations.
• Pathing and access: Ensure Duplicants can physically reach the area where Critters roam. Locked doors, inaccessible ledges, or impassable terrain will prevent automatic wrangling.
• Labor availability: Duplicants must be available to perform capture work. If all Duplicants are busy or the relevant labor is disabled, automatic capture will be delayed until a worker can perform it.
• Use with containment: Combining automatic pick-up with pens, gates, and airlocks helps direct where excess Critters are taken and prevents them from being released into areas where they cause problems.
• No manual override required: The system operates without continuous player input; manual capture orders remain available if the player needs immediate or specific handling.
• Compatibility: This behavior applies to any in-game Critter species recognized as excess by the colony’s systems; it functions as part of the game’s general population-control mechanics rather than a unique, separate interaction.

Because the action is performed by Duplicants, players retain indirect control by adjusting colony priorities, pathing, and containment rather than issuing a large number of direct capture orders. This makes Critter Pick-Up a convenience feature that supports scalable Critter management in mid- and late-game colonies.