And here I thought the purpose of Shine Bugs was to annoy the Dupes when it's time for bed.

I always wondered why halfway through the genetic modification of the shine bugs, the duplicants just create a totally dark one. Do you think they were like “oh god we’ve done it now!”? I like to imagine that they started panicking, giving the bugs better and better food, like frost burgers. One duplicant one day accidentally drops a chunk of barbecue on the ground, and the abyss bug chomps it down. The then creates an egg with the most beautiful shine bug they’ve ever seen.

That duplicant is then venerated and gets the best item in the world that no other duplicant gets the luxury of… a shower.

Shine bug is a light source that does not produce heat like lamp does, so it is definitely a better light source for farming.

0:14 the purpose of the shine bug is to wake up my dupes in the middle of the night.

Shine bugs are also a great free way to get rid of germs (radiation kills germs, more importantly -- slimelung). If you accidentally unleash slimelung into your base, just pop a few shine bugs in there and it'll be completely gone within a few cycles.

I guess the resin and the fact that you can fit 16 into a stable were changed after you made this video? Would be good to get an updated guide. I particularly find the resin useful to get ultra-early game plastic, long before you can feasibly start a drecko ranch.

Remember when your old shine bug reactor used to only output only 100 rads? Ah, the good old days.

"It's the decor where the shine bugs thrive" - missed Dad joke right there.

6:43 straight bars man 🔥🔥🔥

I have found the best use for shinebugs is disinfecting. I put a few eggs into a slime biome, and it clears the germs out so much better than anything else, including chlorine

I watched your beginner's guide, and now I'm going into these specialized tutorials.  You're helping me out a great deal.  True professionalism.

If the theoretical use of the abyss bugs was to use them for decor in bedrooms, then it would only make sense to do so when there is no room for any decor items in the barracks. But the amount of infrastructure required to get to breeding abyss bugs could be used to increase the space for those barracks, allowing for some decor items, defeating the reason for abyss bugs. Also important to note that the game has pixel packs now, so the whole idea with these critters makes less sense! They are cute though.

Personally, i believe they should be reworked to give light producing bugs a bonus to plant growth and provide dupe work speed bonus that scales with tier.

You can also use the critter morph machine story thingy to skip the breeding

I've always liked having shine-bugs around my base - except in the sleeping areas, of course. The "move" command will be a huge help I'm sure, if one of the silly beasties manages to sneak in behind a dupe. They're so pretty.

I suppose I could find a use for a half-ranch in which I'd keep four Sun Bugs. They could effectively feed themselves on Bristle Berries grown within said ranch, and I could spread any extra eggs around the base for decor, light and disinfection, and maybe create a half-dozen serum vials in case of sporechid shenanigans. Not a huge investment for a moderate bonus.

And if I happen to roll a natural twenty and get a Royal Bug, I might as well feed it on the phosphorite that I get for free from my Drecko farm anyway, all the way up to Abyss Bug.... who I can then feed on the abbysallite that's usually just clogging up my storage anyway. And with all these bugs, I've probably set up a rad generator or two, and I could use all those radbolts to run a diamond press to feed any radiant bugs that might end up happening. Goddangit, I just talked myself into this, haven't I?

9:43 thing so picky had to let out a lil giggle

I like to throw a shine bug into a chlorine-flooded chamber for cleaning the germs out of slime, rot, etc., and also for cleaning out the air in a swamp biome.

You may want to revisit this. Shine bugs got an increase to how much radiation they give, but also produce resin when the eggs are used in an egg cracker, allowing for an alternative source of early plastic.

If you only want the rads, you can use airflow tiles on your waterlock design. They let the rads thru so it lets you add extra radbolt generator locations. Also, since the shinebugs inside the reactor won't be confined, they get their 17%/cycle reproduction rate, so they replace themselves. Therefore, once you set the reactor, you don't need to keep ranching them. Moreover, this allows you to transport large number of eggs to other asteroids where you need the rad source and set the reactor without needing a localized shinebug stable, allowing you to get rads wherever you want. The bad thing is that even when restricted to a single tile they take a toll on the performance of the game.