Ancient cryptosleep casket

The cryptosleep casket is used to contain a humanoid or animal in a state of suspended animation.

Acquistition

Can only be found inside ancient shrines. They are almost always occupied by Ancients and guarded by either mechanoids or insectoids, however the information panel will only show the contents as 'unknown' without any specification. If any of the caskets in a shrine are disturbed, every one of the caskets will release their occupants which are often, but not always hostile. They will automatically eject their occupants when hit with any type of attack.

An empty cryptosleep casket may be claimed and used by the colony as its own.

Analysis

During cryptosleep, the occupants biological functions are suspended and they will not age biologically, only chronologically. The pawns stats and status effects will similarly be frozen (this is not completely true; some effects, such as mood and social, do tick down while in cryptosleep) - their hunger will not decrease, any injuries won't progress and any drug doses will remain the same. The player may select a cryptosleep casket and look at the inspect pane to see if it is empty or occupied.

To have a colonist enter a cryptosleep casket, simply select the colonist, then right-click a cryptosleep casket, and choose "Enter cryptosleep casket". Alternatively, if the colonist is downed, another colonist can be ordered to carry the downed pawn to the casket.

Animals or prisoners can be put into cryptosleep caskets, but they need to be downed first. This can be done violently, by applying anesthesia followed by manually directing a colonist to carry them inside or if they have a brain implant , they can also be EMPed to cause Brain shock to quickly and cheaply down them.

When a cryptosleep casket is severely damaged it will spark briefly then explode. Nearby flammables may catch fire.

Utility

This device can help relieve a colony during a crisis such as an intense psychic wave or medicine shortage by safely storing pawns until the problem is resolved. Additionally, pawns addicted to a drug will not progress through withdrawal during stasis, making the casket a handy way of avoiding withdrawal-induced mental breaks in the event of drug shortages - this technique can be used to save the life of a Luciferium-user, or decrease total demand over time.

With the use of anesthetic, prisoners can also be stored temporarily to lessen the drain on colony resources while they await sale, harvesting or, if the Royalty DLC is installed, exchanged for Honor. It is also useful to save enemies/animals till inspiration, particularly - thrumbos and enemies with high resistance.

After waking from cryptosleep, a humanoid will have cryptosleep sickness for a short time, which reduces consciousness and manipulation and causes vomiting. The colonists at the start of the game have cryptosleep sickness since they were in cryptosleep before the ship crashed.

Comparions to other caskets

There are three types of casket - regular, ship and ancient. Regular caskets can be built anywhere but require a significant resource and research investment and occupants can only be released by another pawn. Ancient caskets are similar to regular but are freely available on most maps in Ancient shrines, requiring no investment, but they cannot be moved from where they are. This can make for inopportune positioning or require additional investment to protect them. Additionally, the ancient shrine must first be cleared of enemies including occasionally the current inhabitants of the caskets. Ship caskets are more expensive and significantly require more reaseach (10,800 pts more) than regular caskets, and also require a Ship structural beam to attach to, increasing the cost signficiantly (though, up to 8 caskets can share the same beam). However, they can be placed anywhere the beam can also be constructed and allow the pawn to eject themselves. This can be vital when the pawn is alone, or when there is nobody alive and mobile to release them. It also allows players to release enemies or animals at will, without pawn intervention.

Casket	Placement	Opening	Resource Cost
Cryptosleep casket	Built Anywhere	Can only be opened by a hauler, using the 'Open' designator	180 + 5 + 4 + 1
Ship cryptosleep casket	Must Connect to Ship	Colonist may eject self	120 + 14 + 3 + 3
Ancient cryptosleep casket	Only in Ancient shrines	Can only be opened by a hauler, using the 'Open' designator	None