Plug Slug

This article contains **outdated information** that is inaccurate for the current version. It was last updated for *EX1-444349*. Unreflected changes in the discussed game mechanics are detailed here: **EX1-469287 • FA-471618 • U43-525812**
This article contains **outdated information** that is inaccurate for the current version. It was last updated for *EX1-444349*. Unreflected changes in the discussed game mechanics are detailed here: **EX1-469287 • FA-471618 • U43-525812**

*This article is related to DLC content of Spaced Out.*

## Plug Slug

Plug Slugs are dynamic creatures that generate electrical Power during the night.

### Comfortable Range

10 ↔ 20 °C
 283.15 ↔ 293.15 K
 50 ↔ 68 °F

### Livable Range

-30 ↔ 70 °C
 243.15 ↔ 343.15 K
 -22 ↔ 158 °F

### Diet

Metal Ore 60 kg/cycle
Refined Metal 60 kg/cycle

### Excrete

Hydrogen 5% of the metal ore consumed
Power 100W if wild at night (hunger)
 400W if tame at night(hunger)
 400W if wild (satisfied)
 1600W if tame(satisfied)

### Reproduction Rate

wild: 60 cycles
groomed: 6 cycles

### Incubation Time

base: 20 cycles
lullabied: 4 cycles

## Smog Slug

Smog Slugs are porous creatures that draw in unbreathable gases. At night, they sleep near exposed Gas Pipes and deposit their cache.

### Comfortable Range

-10 ↔ 70 °C
 263.15 ↔ 343.15 K
 14 ↔ 158 °F

### Livable Range

-30 ↔ 90 °C
 243.15 ↔ 363.15 K
 -22 ↔ 194 °F

### Diet

Metal Ore 60 kg/cycle
Refined Metal 60 kg/cycle

### Reproduction Rate

wild: 60 cycles
groomed: 6 cycles

### Incubation Time

base: 20 cycles
lullabied: 4 cycles

## Sponge Slug

Sponge Slugs are thirsty creatures that soak up liquids during the day and deposit the liquids into exposed pipes at night.

### Comfortable Range

-10 ↔ 70 °C
 263.15 ↔ 343.15 K
 14 ↔ 158 °F

### Livable Range

-30 ↔ 90 °C
 243.15 ↔ 363.15 K
 -22 ↔ 194 °F

### Diet

Metal Ore 60 kg/cycle
Refined Metal 60 kg/cycle

### Reproduction Rate

wild: 60 cycles
groomed: 6 cycles

### Incubation Time

base: 20 cycles
lullabied: 4 cycles

**Plug Slugs** is a Critter found in the starting Swampy Biome (Spaced Out). They produce Hydrogen, Eggs, Meat, and generate Power. They can be domesticated.

## Behavior

Similar to Dreckos and Pips, Plug Slugs are able to scale walls and walk along the ceiling. During the night Plug Slugs will nest on a ceiling and hang down, creating a socket two tiles below the ceiling (the lower tile of the slug) from which power can be drained. They will prefer to plug themselves onto exposed wires. Two Slugs cannot sleep on the same tile, and their socket cannot overlap buildings such as Storage Bins.

They emit up to 400 Watts if wild, or up to 1600 Watts when tamed. The output for slugs will be lower if they are hungry or unhappy, down to 0W when starving, rendering the starvation-ranching nonviable beyond locking wild ones away in a separate room.

Since Nighttime lasts 75 seconds on a 600s cycle, this means they generate up to 50W, or 200W on average (up to 3 basic batteries or 3/4 of Jumbo Battery per wild slug per night). However these numbers can be lower in practice, since Slugs first have to path to a nesting-place come nightfall, and immediately wake up come sunrise. For reference, this puts a fully fed domesticated Plug Slug (or four wild) on par with a Manual Generator.

Plug Slugs can eat all kinds of unrefined Metal Ores and Refined Metal, and excrete Hydrogen when they do so.

Cracking a Plug Slug Egg yields 1000g of Raw Egg and 100g of Egg Shell.

It drops 3200 kcal (2 kg) of Meat on death.

## Variants

The Slug has three variants, each with the same diet preferences. Each variant has it own unique ability to manage power, liquid, or gas.

~~For details on how to get the different variants, see Critter Morphs.~~

## Location

A number of Plug Slugs can be found on the Swampy Asteroid in the Spaced Out DLC. This number varies, but at minimum is 5 fully mature Slugs. More will spawn when starting on the Swampy Asteroid, although the generation rules seem to be similar between the Terra & Swampy starts. Additional Plug Slugs can be printed or found in Swampy pockets on other Asteroids.

### Output Calculation

Tame Plug Slug have a base output of 1600W, reduced to 1200 W below 5000 kcal and 800 W below 3000 kcal, with wild slugs producing only 1/4 as much. Starving slugs produce 40 W whether tame or wild.

Power output is independent of happiness and other statuses.

### Plug Slug Energy Output

 Tamed
 Wild

### Smog Slug

 →  →

This variant will intake unbreathable gas during the day and at night it will output the collected gas into a pipe. Similar to critter replacement of gas pump.

### Sponge Slug

 →  →

This variant will intake liquid during the day and at night it will output the collected liquids into a pipe. Similar to critter replacement of liquid pump.

## Ranching

### vs Hatches for Power

Well-fed Hatches produce 70kg Coal per cycle. A Coal Generator uses 1kg Coal per second to produce 600W. Effectively generating 0.6\*70 = 42 kJ of energy per critter per day.

Well-fed Plug Slugs produce 1600 W of power per Night (75 Seconds) or 1.6\*75 = 120 kJ of direct energy per critter per day.

Well-fed Plug Slugs also produce 3kg of Hydrogen per day, which can power an 800W Hydrogen Generator for 30 seconds for an additional 24 kJ of storable energy per critter per day.

This combines to a total of 144 kJ per critter per day.

If the Plug Slugs are tame but glum, then food requirement and hydrogen output is reduced by 80%, but the direct power production remains the same. Per unit of food tame-glum Plug Slugs are 5x more effecient at producing power than tame-happy Plug Slugs, and 4x more efficient than Wild Plug Slugs.

### Semi-starvation exploit

Starving Plug Slugs can be fed just before night to generate 800 W instead of 40 W at night, while starving for the rest of the day. This is much more efficient per-food than feeding the Slug all day. To take this exploit even further, Plug Slugs decide how much power they will generate at the moment they become drowsy and it doesn't matter if they subsequently cross a threshold that should cause them to produce less power, this means they only need to be non-starving for a few seconds when they become non-drowsy and so only a little food need to be given right before they become drowsy (allocating enough time for the Slug to react to the food and eat it). Approximate food requirements:

 Fully Fed, glum
 Fed at night
 Fed when drowsy

It can be seen that dramatic improvements in energy to food ratio can be achieved by exploiting the particular mechanics of power generation, with the most exploitative strategies producing at least 60x more energy per food than grooming and feeding the Plug Slugs.