After 20ish hours, and trying out the varying strategys that had been roughly outlined by devs in the diary posts/videos, I figured it can't hurt to start a proper discussion on the matter to gather all we've learned in the few days past.
Networks refer to both Cable and Pipe setups, and therefore to the ressources Energy, Water and Oxygen.
These networks all share that the attributes of being non-physical (nothing that remains or can be picked up by drones), only exist within their respective system or in their storage containers.
A big ressource expenditure on networks are breaches/leaks which cause the network to lose a part of it's throughput. A game hint implies that larger networks lose more ressources to a breach/leak, albeit I'm, so far, not sure how significant the scaling on that is.
In any case, there's three broad approaches to networking:
What are your findings for the systems mentioned?
Are there any mechanics or interactions I missed?
Which one do you prefer to use (for what)?
Are there variants/combinations not listed here you can recommend?
Looking forward to the discussion!
Networks refer to both Cable and Pipe setups, and therefore to the ressources Energy, Water and Oxygen.
These networks all share that the attributes of being non-physical (nothing that remains or can be picked up by drones), only exist within their respective system or in their storage containers.
A big ressource expenditure on networks are breaches/leaks which cause the network to lose a part of it's throughput. A game hint implies that larger networks lose more ressources to a breach/leak, albeit I'm, so far, not sure how significant the scaling on that is.
In any case, there's three broad approaches to networking:
- Single, 'centralized' network
Basically, your entire colony runs (exceptions may exist) of a single main grid (or rather, two, one for cables, one for pipes, albeit they might overlap anyways). All generators feed into the grid, and all consumers draw from the same grid.
Advantages:
- You can easily scale the grid up or down (add/remove generators) and/or replace generators with more advanced versions (i.e. Turbines with Fusion Generators).
- You generally don't run into space issues (since your generators can be anywhere).
- Easy to plan and to maintain (i.e. you can have drone hubs dedicated to mainting clusters of generators, making maintenance ressource transport easier).
- Resilent to damage, as losing a small number of generators from several dozen can be compensated by the storage's in the network.
- Easy to combine with storage's, which tend to be expensive in maintenance if spammed.
Disadvantages:
- You need to maintain a large network of cables and pipes (or expensive tunnels) to connect all remote domes.
- Breaches/leaks potentially drain far larger amount of ressources than smaller networks.
- Unless you have redundant lines, a single well-placed meteorite could shut down a large part of your domes by cutting the link between generators and consumers.
- Localized Networks
Instead of having a single large grid, your colony runs on several seperate, but still centralized grids. I.e. a single array of generators feeding a few nearby domes, but entirely independent from other domes.
Advantages:
- Generally avoids insanely long cable/pipe lines.
- More resistant to breaches/leaks due to having less quantity in the network, and less cables/pipes overall.
- Cheaper to set-up over a wide-spread colony (no need for tunnels/drone hub chains).
Disadvantages:
- Since the network is smaller, a group of damaged generators could potentially lead to a shortage easier than a centralized network.
- Requires a section of free space whereever you want to setup a new grid, therefore increasing space and planning costs.
- Individual/Decentralized Networks
Minimize the use of any connectors (cables/pipes) and attach each consumer to the exact amount of generators it needs. I.e. single building to single generators, or domes to a small cluster of generators.
Advantages:
- You have basically no cable/pipe maintenance whatsoever.
- Outside of calculating how much power/water total a more complex consumer such as a dome will need, there is zero planning involved.
- There is very little clustering, and therefore any meteor-based damage will be minimized.
Disadvantages:
- You cannot set up storage units for each 'network' (aka building) due to costs, leaving those singular buildings excessively vulnerable to breaches/leaks, lack of maintenance or dust storms (aka, if your producer exactly matches the consumer's demand, any kind of negative impact on the producer will basically shut down the consumer.
- Very difficult to scale without switching to localized networks, since very few consumers need more then a few generators in first place (aka, Fusion Generators are overkill to power single buildings).
- Maintenance supply can be a very drone/shuttle-taxing task, since ressources such as Machine Parts will need to be distributed to every single corner of your colony that has turbines (etc).
What are your findings for the systems mentioned?
Are there any mechanics or interactions I missed?
Which one do you prefer to use (for what)?
Are there variants/combinations not listed here you can recommend?
Looking forward to the discussion!
