Tom Settler Contract cards (the rare WHC Unit and he common Strategic FOODIE-MOODIE) seem very comparable to the Tom Settler Essentials (TOM Beauty Air and Soup and Cook). So let's compare them point by point under two different circumstances - first, a hostile airless world and then a nice friendly Earth-like Planet.
| AIR | WATER | FOOD |
|---|
 | |  |
 |  | |
Hostile Airless World
Life Support
A base WHC Unit will provide 5 people with life support for 25 days before running out of Oxygen Crystals. The TOM Beauty Air could only provide those 5 people with life support for 20 days -- but if your number of people isn't divisible by 5 it is a lot more flexible.But WHC units are Upgradable. You could make a unit that provides life support for 10 people for 25 days or 5 people for 50 days. And WHC Units also produce effectively free energy.
But the relative values really hinge upon "How easy are oxygen crystals to obtain?" and "Can one set of gas construction materials create a permanent source of life support (though it may require energy)? Hopefully Elindos will answer these questions in the next day or two.
Water
The water production of a base WHC Unit of water for 10 people for 25 days is again comparable to the Soup and Cooks 200 daily rations of water. And, again, the WHC Unit can be Upgraded.Food
A once-upgraded (for energy) Strategic FOODIE-MOODIE will provide food forever.Summary
Unless food and water can be produced on a hostile airless world, you pretty much have to go with the WHC Unit and the Strategic FOODIE-MOODIE.
Friendly Earth-like World
Life Support
Don't need it except for Nomad Fleet Personnel.Water & Food
Only need it until the planet can provide it.Summary
It this case, Soup and Cook takes only one cargo slot and can tide you over until you can provide food and water for yourself. If hunting and/or growing food takes too much colonist time and effort, it is probably worth bringing a Strategic FOODIE-MOODIE if you have spare cargo space.
Final Answer
For hostile airless worlds and desert planets (or any planet without clean water), you're going to want to go with the Tom Settler Contract cards (and upgrade them as much as possible). For nice Earth-like worlds, which I suspect will be in the majority, you're going to want to go with the Soup and Cook. I don't currently see how the TOM Beauty Air is worth much at all, unless the gas construction materials can provide a permanent life support solution -- though maybe Elindos (or someone else) can point out what I'm missing.Personally, I'm going to buy a couple or three Colonist Essentials -- but I'm really going to hope that the third card is really useful or that Elindos decides to add another card or two. Currently I don't see how the Colonist Essentials pack stacks up to be anywhere close to any of the other Glorious Eight -- including the two escort packs that match it in price.
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Getting a Tom Settler is a good investment, before they are gone forever. Specially for drops to your new habitants.
Yes Tom's contract cards will be a must for many builds, especially for those which are military or criminal, possibly the civilian builds too but won't be so essential for scientists as their ships have their own life support system. The scientists will be probably the best build for those hostile planets, meaning that the capacity to survive on those leaves you the only problem of defending them from hostiles outside the planet.
Also those scientists ships have a lot of cargo space. (The Orwell I has 14! slots)
There's a difference in life support between scientific and non scientific ships? Where can I learn more about this...
What do you know about life support that we don't know, palasatenea?
Also, Stranded Trader + the standard Amarasia gives you 22 slots! 14 slots is chump change. ;-)
Nothing extraordinary really and hasn't been explained in detail but anybody can see it in the scientists ships.
I don't know how these two vessels work, but I guess that will have their importance in exploration, probably the scientists aren't like Indiana Jones and they prefer to be investigating in their ship without going anywhere if isn't neccessary, I guess the exploration vessel is for that.
The Ark vessel gives me the impression to be something like the preservation dome but incorporated to the ship, will be probably better than the dome.
All this of course are my assumptions, nothing else, and could be that I have high expectations in the ship. Scientists have many drawbacks, low resistance, not a very compatible build, a ship with old technology (less efectivity in the evac), they should have some advantage "hidden" or at least not well explained.