Saturation

Saturation is the unseen game mechanic that controls Characters' needs for Food. A character with a higher saturation value has eaten recently, and is more full than another character with a low saturation level.

Levels of Saturation

Characters' saturation level is grouped into four thresholds: Fed, Hungry, Urgently Hungry, and Starving. Each threshold exhibits different effects on a character, especially their Thoughts. The saturation level boundaries are indicated by small notches on the "Food" bar in the Needs tab of eating pawns.

For humanoids, the saturation levels are as follows:

Label	Saturation	Mood modifier
Fed	Greater than 25	none
Hungry	12.5 to 25	-8
Urgently Hungry	0 to 12.5	-14
Starving	0	-22

Speed of animal production (wool, milk, eggs or chemfuel) is dependent on the saturation level. Production is halved, when animal becomes hungry, one third of the normal rate when urgently hungry and completely stopped when starving.

Saturation caps at 100.

When the Saturation reaches 0, the effects of malnutrition start setting in, with effects depending on severity (time went without food).

Saturation Changes

Saturation goes down every tick (1/2500 of a game hour) depending on the character's current saturation and modifiers on their hunger rate.

Saturation	Change per hour	Change per day
Fed	-6.67	-160
Hungry	-3.33	-80
Urgently Hungry	-1.67	-40

Starving

Once a character is starving, they will become Malnourished at a pace of 2% malnutrition per hour.