Walkthrough: Printing Pod & Mission Activation Guide

Oxygen Not Included is a base-building survival game where managing atmosphere, water, food, power, and duplicant behavior determines whether your colony survives and thrives. This walkthrough covers early priorities, printing pod usage, initial base layout and progression tasks so you can reliably get past the dangerous first cycles and set up a foundation for mid-game automation and expansion.

Early priorities (first 0–6 cycles)

• Secure breathable air and avoid stress from lack of oxygen. Early game oxygen comes from plants (e.g., Mealwood, Bristle Blossom where available), Algae Deoxidizer, and manually moving duplicants to safe areas. Prioritize a simple Algae Deoxidizer powered by a Coal Generator or manual power source until you can convert to sustainable options.
• Provide food quickly. Plant Mealwood in dedicated farm tiles with fertilizer or use ration boxes if available. Keep at least one duplicant assigned to farming.
• Contain heat and gas. Build simple closed rooms to control where contaminated gases collect. Use doors and airlocks to prevent spreading CO2/other gases into living areas.
• Manage stress and hygiene. Place wash basins and a simple lavatory near sleeping quarters, and give duplicants a bed and a small recreation or decor item to reduce stress.

Printing Pod: timing and choices

• The Printing Pod becomes available for a new selection after its cooldown completes. The cooldown timer is three cycles after the pod becomes active.
• When the Printing Pod is ready, it offers either a new Duplicant or a Care Package. Unlike the initial selection at the very start of a run, additional duplicants presented by the pod cannot be rerolled.
• You may reject all presented duplicant options if none fit your needs. Rejecting is allowed and will not force you to accept an unsuitable duplicant.
• The pod’s cooldown timer does not start again until you have made an active choice (accepted a duplicant or care package) or rejected all options. Simply exiting the pod menu without choosing does not begin the cooldown.

Practical tips:

• Wait to accept duplicants until you have the infrastructure to support them (beds, oxygen, food), because bringing them too early increases stress and resource strain.
• Consider taking care packages early if they give critical resources you lack (e.g., algae, water, food, research points).

Initial base layout and minimal rooms

• Build a compact base with clearly separated functional zones: a core living/sleeping area, a hydroponics/farming area, a power/generator room, and a washroom/hygiene area.
• Keep bedrooms small and insulated from heat-producing machines. Provide one bed per duplicant and place lavatories nearby.
• Put the power generation and fuel storage in a separate room with ventilation to prevent heat and gas from spreading into living spaces.
• Place storage and a central research bench near the base center to minimize duplicant travel times.

Basic progression tasks

• Research: Prioritize basic research that unlocks power generation, water access/treatment, and storage technologies. Early tech should include Plumbing, Power, and Agriculture tiers.
• Water and sanitation: Secure at least one reliable water source. Construct a water pump and a simple plumbing loop with a basic Liquid Filter if needed. Build a lavatory and a wash basin to reduce stress and disease.
• Power: Start with a manual generator only briefly. Move to Coal Generators if coal is abundant; otherwise use natural gas or hydrogen for future setups. Add batteries and smart batteries to smooth power spikes.
• Food sustainability: Move from Mealwood to better long-term sources (like ranching critters or refined farming setups) as soon as you can support them.
• Atmosphere control: Replace algae deoxidizers with sustainable oxygen production (electrolyzers fed by purified water) once power and water supply are stable. Build vents and filters to manage CO2 and polluted oxygen.

Task and building interactions (practical mechanics)

• Some buildings require manual activation or request behavior. For example, certain story or DLC-related buildings (like a Flux-O-Matic in some mods/traits) must be activated by a duplicant, and activation often requires manually requesting the errand through the building’s UI.
• Always check a building’s UI for manual buttons (e.g., to start a job) and ensure duplicants are assigned the corresponding tasks or priorities.

Transition to mid-game (after surviving early cycles)

• Automate basic resource flows: connect gas and liquid piping to streamline oxygen and water distribution, and automate storage with conveyors and automation sensors.
• Build a dedicated research lab area and scale research priorities toward Refinement and Advanced Power technologies.
• Expand living quarters slowly as you accept new duplicants from the Printing Pod. Each new duplicant increases food, oxygen, and waste requirements.
• Plan for pollution: start constructing systems to clean polluted water and scrub polluted oxygen. Implement targeted CO2 traps (e.g., lower-level CO2 collection chambers) to prevent CO2 buildup in high-traffic areas.

Common beginner pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Accepting duplicants too early: wait until you have the basics (beds, oxygen, food). The Printing Pod will not start a new cooldown until you accept or reject its options, so delay acceptance if necessary.
• Poor ventilation: failing to manage gas flow leads to oxygen-starved floors and CO2 pockets. Use doors, vents, and gas pumps to control where gases accumulate.
• Power shortages from peak demand: add batteries and automatic generators or use smart batteries and automation to prevent brownouts.
• Neglecting hygiene and stress: build lavatories and recreation but also keep food and oxygen stable to prevent spiraling stress and morale problems.

This walkthrough covers the essential steps to reliably get past the dangerous early game, how to use the Printing Pod strategically, and which systems to prioritize as you move into mid-game automation and growth. Adjust each step to the specifics of your biome and starting seed, and expand methodically rather than sprawling quickly.