Temperature Zones
Freezers cold, bedrooms warm, machines cooled: walls and doors decide where heat goes.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- Design focus
- Spatial · Optimization · Risk
No.020RimWorld01The core loop
Action → feedback → next choice- 01Mark functional zones
- 02Set target temperatures
- 03Place heaters, coolers, insulation
- 04Watch for heat leaks
↻Feedback changes the situation — the next round starts from there.
Walk through one round
A simplified design example. Situations and numbers illustrate the mechanic, not exact rules from a reference game.
- T1
Turn 1 · The situation
Freezer at 5°C, food spoils in three days, and it shares a wall with the generator room.
- T2
Turn 2 · The player chooses
Add an insulated wall between them and one more cooler.
- T3
Turn 3 · The feedback
Freezer drops to −5°C, food lasts 30+ days, power +200 W.
- T4
Turn 4 · The next decision
Make sure the cooler's exhaust doesn't face the bedrooms.
How it plays
Heat conducts between neighboring cells, and sealed rooms hold their own temperature. Heaters and coolers use power and dump heat somewhere, while insulation and door traffic set leak rates. A temperature overlay pinpoints trouble.
What the player weighs
- Pay for insulation or accept higher power use
- Freezer near the kitchen or far from heat
02Start small
Scope is an editorial estimate for the minimum prototype, not the reference game or a production schedule.
03One mechanic, different implementations
RimWorld
Heaters and coolers control room temperature, coolers chill one side and vent heat on the other, and building a freezer for food is a standard play.
Oxygen Not Included
Nearly all machines make heat, and players use insulated tiles, liquid cooling loops and steam turbines to move it out or turn it into power.
The difference worth noticing
RimWorld controls temperature per room with simple rules; in Oxygen Not Included heat is a colony-wide physics problem.
Case notes are Yoroll editorial summaries; rules may change between versions.
04What could you combine?
Tie food processing to zones: smoking needs a hot room and curing a cool one, so the same meat becomes different preserves by room.
Prototype this combo in Yoroll→Follow the next idea
Roads and Entrances
A building isn't open until a road reaches its door.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Plan a building spot
- 02Connect a road
- 03Check flow and jams
- 04Reroute or widen
Coverage Radius Planning
Each facility covers a circle; placing circles well beats building more of them.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Find coverage gaps
- 02Place a service
- 03Check overlap and holes
- 04Shift or add more
Load-Bearing Builds
To build taller and wider, first answer one question: will it hold?
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Place a piece
- 02Read the support signal
- 03Add pillars or better material
- 04Expand or collapse