Microbe detector
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| Level 4: This advanced tool can locate and capture microbes around the ship. This model comes with more scan points and a HUD display showing which type of microbes are in the area by color. | |
| Item Information | |
|---|---|
| Category | Tool |
| Merchant Information | |
| Sell | Cannot be sold |
This tool is used to find and catch microbes. The player will be given this tool during the mission Microbe Seeking, which will be given to the player after they have left the Grey Planet and are on their way to Blue Reef. The microbe detector does not use any of the players energy.
Upgrades
Can be upgraded at the Machine Shop.
| Product | Ingredients | Workbench | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
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3 days |
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3 days |
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3 days |
There are 4 Microbe detector levels:
- Microbe detector: Level 1 - Default
- Microbe detector: Level 2 - Microbe Detector has increased scan points. This detector also adds a HUD display to show how many microbes are in the area.
- Microbe detector: Level 3 - Microbe Detector has additional increased scan points. This detector also has a larger scan radius and a better chance to detect rare microbes.
- Microbe detector: Level 4 - Microbe Detector has maximum increased scan points. This detector also adds a HUD display showing which type of microbes are in the area by color.
Catching Microbes
To find microbes, the player must have the microbe detector in their hands. When they interact with their detector, a light blue circle will appear showing the range of the detector, and scanning for microbes within that range. Above the player's head, a small screen will show how many microbes, if any, are in that area.
- If the dot is red, that means there are no microbes in that area.
- If the dot is yellow that means one or more microbes are in the area, if there is more than one microbe the number of microbes will also appear in the dot.
- If the dot is green, that means the microbe has been detected and the mini-game is about to begin.
If a microbe is in the area, there will be one or more arrows (depending on how many microbes are in the area) which will indicate which direction the player needs to walk to find that microbe.
Detector Interface
Once a microbe has been found, the player will enter a mini-game. A microbe-detector screen will appear in the middle of the player's screen. At the top of the detector, the player will see a bar with a pattern similar to DNA's double helix, this is the microbe's health. This bar increases as the microbe looses health, until the player hits the blue-goal line. At the bottom of the detector, there is a solid bar, which is the player's health bar. This bar decreases as the player looses health. Both health bars change color based on the type of microbe. The screen consists of several circular zones:
- Farthest outwards is the first miss zone, this is dark blue outside of the medium-blue circle. If the player interacts while in this zone, they will lose a large amount of health.
- The outer zone is the medium-blue area just inside of the hit zone.
- The target zone is a lighter-blue color, in between the outer and inner zones.
- The inner zone, is the same medium-blue color as the outer zone, but is closer to the center.
- The farthest inwards is the second miss zone, this is a dark blue circle at the center of the game. If the player interacts while in this zone, they will lose a large amount of health.
Microbe Health Bar
Goal Line to Capture Microbe
Player Health Bar
Outer Zone
Target Zone
Inner Zone
Miss Zones
Player Line (that moves)
Circle target zone, rather than wavy
The Mini-game
When the game begins a brighter blue line, which will be referred to as "the player line", will start in the hit zone, and begin to shrink, passing through the other zones and eventually disappearing in the center. The player wants to use their 
left mouse button (or primary action key) when the player's line is mostly inside the "target zone". The player line will move faster the more difficult the microbe.
Each round of the minigame, has several different outcomes that impact the players' and the microbes health.
| Outcome | How to get it | Player Health Loss | Microbe Health Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect | At least half of the player line is inside the target zone | 0 | -3 |
| Good | Less than half of the player line is inside the target zone | -1 | -2 |
| Hit | The player line is not inside the target zone at all, and is partially inside either the outer or inner zones. | -3 | -1 |
| Miss | The player line is in one of the miss zones, or the player did not click at all | -5 | 0 |
Depending on how well the player line is aligned with the target zone, the player and/or the microbe will lose a certain amount of "health". Player health starts at either 10, 15, 20, or 25 depending on how many times they've upgraded their microbe detector. The microbe's health will be either 15, 25, 30, 35, 40, or 50 depending on the difficulty of the microbe.
Tips
- Upgrade the microbe detector to get more player health!
- If feeling frustrated, don't forget to adjust the speed in the options.
- If using PC, place the cursor at the outer edge of the target zone, then focus on that area. When that area becomes lighter, click. It helps to focus on a single area rather than the entire detector screen.
Options
The mini game has three settings in the options:
- Standard - this is normal speed of microbes.
- Reduced Speeds - this slows down the player line for all microbes.
- Off - this turns off the mini-game entirely, when the player detects the microbe, they will just pick it up.
Gallery
Animation noting now many microbes are in the area
