Decor

Decor is a tile-based environmental value that affects Duplicant morale. Almost everything in the game has a decor value, either positive or negative, along with a radius showing how far that value reaches. The decor score in any given tile is the sum of all objects whose decor radius includes that tile. Duplicants evaluate decor from their lower half, and the game tracks both their current environmental decor and the average decor they have perceived over the cycle and across the previous cycle.

High decor grants morale. If a Duplicant’s average decor from the last cycle reaches certain thresholds, they receive increasing morale bonuses: mediocre at 0, average at 30, nice at 60, charming at 90, and gorgeous at 120, for up to +12 morale. Because perceived decor changes gradually, sudden improvements do not instantly raise morale; the benefit accumulates as the Duplicant spends time in the decorated area.

Decor is influenced by many sources. Some of the strongest positive contributors are art, the printing pod, certain plants, and special buildings such as the Great Monument. Many utility and industrial objects reduce decor instead, including debris, machines, wires, ladders, and storage bins. Positive and negative decor values both propagate through radius-based effects, so a poorly placed machine can depress a large area, while a well-placed plant or artwork can improve an entire room.

A few structures help decor pass through otherwise obstructed spaces. Window Tiles and Pneumatic Doors allow decor to pass through them, which makes them useful for keeping a room visually pleasant even when machines have to be sealed off behind a wall. By contrast, Mechanized Airlock and Manual Airlock block decor while closed, so they can be used to isolate ugly industrial areas without permanently restricting access.

Materials also matter. An item’s base decor is multiplied by the decor bonus of the material it is built from. Granite, for example, gives a +20% decor bonus, and transparent materials provide an even larger bonus. Some materials can be chosen for practical reasons even when their decor bonus is not ideal, since thermal behavior and other properties may be more important than appearance.

Several non-decor buildings and entities still affect decor in important ways. Lighting gives a flat +15 decor bonus regardless of brightness, which makes it especially valuable in industrial spaces when combined with the Lit Workspace speed bonus. Duplicant outfits have a decor penalty unless upgraded to better clothing, while some critters and non-decorative plants contribute positive decor on their own. Dropped resources, heavy machinery, and exposed wiring can quickly turn a room ugly, so good base design usually combines clean layout, enclosed machine rooms, and decorative elements to maintain morale.

The term was called Mining before the Launch Update.