Can't Build Anything Glitch?

[Yurameki]

I've run into an odd glitch in Outpost 1, I'm on turn 230 or so. And suddenly I can't build anything. My robots show up and I can use them, and I have tons of resources in a dozen or so storage tanks, as well as tons of warehouses full of stuff, in fact most of them are apparently overfilled which I was unaware was possible. All my buildings are functioning normally, people are still multiplying, etc.

However, NO buildings or anything else not even tubes, show up in the list of available buildings except under one condition: When I load the game.

They show up that turn, but will not build, I can slap them down and the turns until complete never decrease.

I've noticed this happened just after I put through a few researches which apparently have changed me to the upgraded looking buildings...don't know if there's a connection, or a way to make it fix...

Hoping someone on here can help me out.

And please do not tell me to go play OP2, because I have no desire to play OP2 whatsoever, it's a combat sim, I just want to build something, Outpost style.

[Flashy]

And please do not tell me to go play OP2, because I have no desire to play OP2 whatsoever, it's a combat sim, I just want to build something, Outpost style.

We only use OP2 as combat simulator, but in fact I read a lot of reviews where everyone complains about outpost 2 being too much about colony management, and nearly no combat at all, but ok, there's no accounting for taste.

[Sirbomber]

Considering that I'm pretty much the only person here who has played OP1 extensively, I'm probably your best bet for getting help with the game.  Unfortunately:

And please do not tell me to go play OP2, because I have no desire to play OP2 whatsoever, it's a combat sim

Sure, whatever, ignore 90% of the game and just focus on the 10% you don't like.  I think I know what your problem is, and I could give you loads of info on what's happening, why it's happening, and how to prevent it, but I found that comment ignorant and insulting, and I'm an extremely petty person...

So here's the situation I find myself in:  I can be nice anyways, or I can completely blow you off and leave you on your own with a barely playable game.  Now, the odds of you sticking around and becoming a productive and active member of this community are, what, -5062%?  You just want help with this silly old game, and then we'll never hear from you again.  So that's not much incentive to help you out.  And on the other hand, I feed off of the misery of others (hey, you don't get the nickname "Big Bad Bomber" for nothing) and, as I pointed out earlier, since you're only going to stick around until you get this question answered, nobody will care what I do to you.

But all that said, I'm in a good mood today.  So consider yourself lucky when I tell you to stop spamming construction and research.  Just because you spam storage tanks doesn't mean you have enough resources for all of the stuff you want to do.  There are, what, 20 different ore types?  I'm guessing you're running out of Precious C (or whatever).  Only build one structure at a time (wait for one to finish before you start another), and don't have too many labs researching at the same time.  Make sure your mine hasn't run dry (if it has, expand it further downwards or open up a new one) and make sure to have a few SPEWs to pump out MPG.  Your goal should be to rush the Nanotech Facility, since that will solve all of your resource problems forever, allowing you to do whatever you want with your colony/colonies.  Also, it's been awhile, but isn't there a button you can click that opens up a new window displaying what the structure needs to operate/finish building?  That can help you, for future reference.

[Yurameki]

Appreciate the help, and I *might* take another look at OP2 if I can find a download link one of these days.

That said, how can it be a material problem when I can't even build tubes?? Or roads when I have lots of road building materials in my warehouses. I have several mines that are not dry.

As far as spamming things, I may have gone a tad overboard in building

So clicking on the Needs button shows me everything in Green, while the manual tells me it would be in Red if I didn't have enough...but the manual could be wrong.

[Yurameki]

So I think I may have finally figured it out, after advancing a few dozen turns, the "People" requirement on a building turned Red. I checked my workforce, Unemployed people is 0, and I loaded the game again, checked again, same thing, Unemployed 0, I'm assuming because I have no one to work on the stuff that I can't build anything, makes sense from that perspective. But does that really stop you from building Tubes and Roads too??

[Sirbomber]

Having zero people unemployed is a good thing.  Unemployed people are a problem (negative morale), not a resource.  From the sounds of it, you're about to experience a mass die-off.  That's why you don't over-build: pretty much everything needs Precious C, and it's hard to come by.  And by everything, that includes oxygen.

[CK9]

Seriously?  They require a mined resource for oxygen?  Outpost 1 is a prime example of why you don't have scientists directly invloved in a game's production.

[Yurameki]

I've got lots of Precious C in my storage tanks...


ps. CK9, how would you make Oxygen without a resource if you were on Mars? I know the real answer, but I'm curious how you'd magically make it

[Sirbomber]

I don't know if it's really Precious C.  But there's some "precious" thing that's hard to come by that everything uses.

Also, make sure you're smelting it and not just shipping the ore to the storage tanks.

[Flashy]

Appreciate the help, and I *might* take another look at OP2 if I can find a download link one of these days.

Do you mean something like http://www.outpostuniverse.net/gamedownload.php ?

[Yurameki]

Yea I found that later :-/ heh

[CK9]

ps. CK9, how would you make Oxygen without a resource if you were on Mars? I know the real answer, but I'm curious how you'd magically make it

Easy, I'd use the plants being grown for food as the oxygen source.  You have a decent enough oxygen supply from the starship to start you off.  You have big food producers in the designated structure and fan systems to circulate the air from there.  In addition to this, you have minor food producers (in example, some fruit trees that don't produce as much fruit) in all the common areas.  It's a lot better than mining some rare ore to produce it.

[Sirbomber]

Yeah, but then you can't have random massive die-offs.  The game's no fun unless humanity goes extinct because they couldn't mine enough air.

[Hooman]

... How you mine for air?  

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=155


Welcome.
 

[CK9]

There is a reason Eden decided to terraform new terra

lol, mine for fish.  Hooman, do you know how many times that's been suggested (without being a joke) in rs?

and bomber: mass die-offs can occur if the number of people exceeds the production capability of the plants (either through rabbit-like reproduction or through miss-treatment of the plants.