In Ixion, a survival city builder set in the deep reaches of space, players will need to provide many necessities to the crew of the Tiqqun after an accident constantly threatens the lives of those aboard. Those necessities include housing, power, and of course food to meet the needs of survival for the crew.
This can be more difficult than it seems at first, as there is no soil to grow food in space. At least not at first. Players will need to build several different buildings in order to keep the stomachs of the crew full, and they can learn which building will be most advantageous for their circumstances here.
Insect Farms
Like all difficult survival city builders, one of the most important needs for players to fulfill will be the need for their colony to eat, and Ixion provides such a building early on in the game. The first food production building that players will be able to construct after researching it is the insect farm. As gross as it sounds, the insect farm provides a means for players to grow their own food aboard the Tiqqun in high enough numbers to feed the starting crew provided to players.
The insect farm requires 30 science points to research, 20 alloy to construct, 5 power to run, and 8 crew to operate. Once players have met the needs to construct, the insect farm will provide the player’s colony with 1 food per cycle, the in-game measurement of time.
Crew aboard the Tiqqun will need to eat once every 5 cycles, with 1 food being sufficient to feed 10 crew members. This means that a single insect farm can sustain 50 crew members every 5 cycles, making it an important building to have early on. It’s relatively cheap cost allows players to feed small to medium-sized crews relatively efficiently, as the insect farm does not require additional resources to run.
Crop Farms and Fields
The next food building that can be built is the crop farm. This building is not unlocked until players can research the third ring or tier of buildings. Once unlocked, the crop farm can be built for 30 alloys and 1 electronics. Players should be sure to build the crop farm in an area with a lot of space, difficult as it is to find on the Tiqqun, as the major downside of the crop farm is the space it will take to operate efficiently.
This is because once the crop farm is built, players will need to build crop fields adjacent to it, and it is the fields that produce food. Crop field accomplish this by converting the water resource into the food resource, so players will also need a steady income of ice and a fusion station to turn ice into water if they wish to make use of the crop farm. Players will also need 16 alloy to build each crop field, 3 additional power, and 4 additional crew, making it a power and crew-intensive building.
Mushroom Wall
The mushroom wall is a mid-game building that provides a means for players to re-purpose the waste that is built up by other buildings on the station. Another tier 3 food building, it can be built for the cost of 90 alloy and 1 electronics, 5 power to run, and 10 crew to operate; the mushroom wall will passively convert waste into food. It also can be built into the wall of the space station, so it can save room for other buildings.
A solid choice for dealing with waste, but it requires that players also research and build the policymaking building the DLS center, as players will not be able to store and utilize waste otherwise. Similar to other survival city builders, this comes with a cost, as Players should be aware that the policy that enables waste to be stored will decrease the stability of the sector, so care must be taken to increase the trust and happiness of the crew to compensate.
Algae Farm
The algae farm is a building unlocked later when food is becoming more scarce in-game, and it is quite useful in terms of its food production if players have the water to fuel it. The algae farm costs 50 alloy and 3 electronics to build, 9 power to run, and 15 crew to operate.
However, like the crop farm, players will have to build a few more buildings in order to get food from the farm itself. These are the algae plantations, each of which cost an additional 24 alloy and require a further investment of 6 power and 5 crew per building, to a max of 4 plantations per farm.
Mess Hall
Regardless of the food buildings that are constructed by the player, a Mess Hall must be constructed before players can feed their colony. Luckily, players do not have to research this building, but must nonetheless allocate enough space somewhere in each sector to feed the crew, as food produced in the other buildings must go here first.
Fulfilling Water Needs
Several of these food production buildings require water in order to function properly. One of the buildings that players can make use of late-game to satisfy the water need is to research and construct the water treatment center. The water treatment center requires 50 waste to operate, but if this need is met, the water treatment center will simulate the recycling of water on the station, helping to fulfill the needs of any buildings in a center.
The water treatment center is not cheap, however. Players will need 80 alloy and 5 electronics to build, a staggering 100 power to run, and 10 crew to operate.
If players are able to meet these high requirements and are able to transfer enough waste into the sector that contains the water treatment facility, players can build their food production buildings in the same sector as the treatment facility and drastically reduce the amount of ice they need to mine, freeing up miners to focus on other resources. This is not viable early-game, as the water treatment is a tier 4 research, but it becomes an option late in the game.
Ixion is available now for PC.
