Better Power Transmitter mechanics
mikeloeven
Join Date: 2017-04-14 Member: 229623Members
Join Date: 2017-04-14 Member: 229623Members
I encountered a problem with power transmitters and that is that while a transmitter can accept input from multiple sources it will only output to one other power transmitter or a base.
For example if you place a bunch of solar panels and than have two bases one on each side the power transmission network has no method of splitting the connection so the game will randomly decide to connect the beam to the row of transmitters feeding base one or base two but cannot supply power to both. In the future I would like to see the ability for transmitters to be able to connect to multiple bases for the purpose of a centralized power grid.
on a side note as part of the revamp I would also suggest looking into direct base to base connections which will hopefully eliminate the issue of solar panels on foundations not connecting to transmitters.
For example if you place a bunch of solar panels and than have two bases one on each side the power transmission network has no method of splitting the connection so the game will randomly decide to connect the beam to the row of transmitters feeding base one or base two but cannot supply power to both. In the future I would like to see the ability for transmitters to be able to connect to multiple bases for the purpose of a centralized power grid.
on a side note as part of the revamp I would also suggest looking into direct base to base connections which will hopefully eliminate the issue of solar panels on foundations not connecting to transmitters.
Comments
Having to lay cable wouldn't have to work much different than power transmitters already does either, The graphics would be the biggest change. Crystals being replaced by ground-anchors and the electricity with cables, Maybe an attachment-point similar to the base pump or a wall-mount for connecting it to the base and/or generators. Best would be if you clicked once to select the starting point and again to finalize the blueprint.
Man i want power-cables. Especially ones with tiny lights that glow or pulses along it when energy transfers. That would be so pretty/cool.
*Curls up in the corner and cries*
But seriously perhaps cables for short connections between unconnected structures within the same general area and power transmitters for longer connections over 100m. high voltage vs local wiring
You know, I told myself I wasn't going to bring this up. But you did, so now it's cool.
Those wireless power transmitters are a bad idea in an underwater environment. The degree of loss from one to the next would be extreme. There are only so many ways to wirelessly "transmit" power, and all of them are severely attenuated by water. Barring the invocation of space magic in one of its forms (a new particle, etc.), they really don't make sense. Cables, on the other hand, would be easy to make with a fabricator (we already do, in fact) and would be comparatively lossless.
So, might not be high-tech, but I'd rather have cables, too.
If they could program it, I would like it to where the greater the distance, the higher the chance/occurrence that something would be chewing on the cable.
i would rather use cables too
I would rather make this an AI behavioral routine. any creature that is a threat to the cable needs to have a reason for that behavior. The fact remains that most of the existing creatures especially the larger predators who could deal significant damage to the cable would have no reason to chew on it as its not only inedible but an inanimate object unlikely to attract the attention of any life form. The only creature I could see being a threat would be the stalker because of it's habit of grabbing scrap metal off the ground
Well, Mike, anything with a sensory apparatus like a shark's lateral line system could be attracted to it. Any electrical conductor puts up an EM field - and the more current, the stronger the field. If the fish uses electrical impulse detection as a means to hunt (by detecting muscle contractions in its prey), it could attack the cable because it mistakenly identifies it as prey. A shark's ampullae of Lorenzini function as electroreceptors, allowing them to detect even minute electrical impulses. Stronger ones are even easier to sense.
(It's why there's been some interest in magnetic or electrical field shark-repellant technologies. None of them work and they probably never will, but it was a good try all the same.)
Of course, it'd be a shocking mistake on the fish's part, but the damage is done by the time he's fried to a fish stick.
(Fun fact: bees are also electroreceptive.)
Basically, I'm sure a lot of these suggestions are being considered already for when power transmitters are touched up.
Protoss beacons.