diodes

[Yemto]

I would like to be able to place diodes in walls, and wires. That way It would be possible to have batteries store electricity for certain things.

This is just one example


If my room with batteries explodes, or I don't pay attention to the electricity that plant room would still have electricity a bit longer since the electricity can't flow backwards into the prisons cells.

That kind of feature would be good for large bases, and defenses.

Edit: This would also work really well whit walls that don't have wires in them, to make wiring easier

[Semmy]

Sounds like a awsome idea.
Multiple ideas have been suggested for the powergrid. I am really curious if tynan will throw some in

[Wopian]

This would go so nicely with walls without wires in them if we will have them.

Support this idea 100%.

[Ford_Prefect]

Yes.  If there are events that can take out large parts of power grid.  Something like a diode should be in the game.  Because of its usefulness, it should be expensive (the price of a solar panel maybe? Slightly less?).

[Merry76]

Thats not how electricity works (irl).

However, a breaker switch would work - sort of. Especially if you have enough power in your grid so it could blow up walls that are rather important for the structural integrity of your underground base leading to a massive cave in...

Tynan probably wants to keep the "short out" mechanic in, so the in-game-technology might be too advanced to allow breaker switches (a rather reckless technology, as it seems to blow up all the time).

[Yemto]

Thats not how electricity works (irl).

I know, But it's simplifying it for the benefit of the gameplay.

[Semmy]

I do like the idea.
But i still think that even the part after the diodes should be vurnerable for something.
Nothing should ever be 100% safe. And a risk should always be there to keep in the back of your mind.
Those batteries in that room itself could explode shorting everything in that room.

[Yemto]

I do like the idea.
But i still think that even the part after the diodes should be vurnerable for something.
Nothing should ever be 100% safe. And a risk should always be there to keep in the back of your mind.
Those batteries in that room itself could explode shorting everything in that room.

I don't think the diodes should be more vulnerable than normal wire, But it should be more expensive.

[Runalotski]

diods could be less efficient, as they would waste energy as heat, so too many in series would have no energy left over to charge a battery or power lights very well

[BassMonroe]

Thought i'd re-awaken this topic as it relates to my suggestion.

Basically diodes is something I think we should have towards the mid-end game giving players the means to cancel out the electrical surges. The image at the top of this post is the best example I can think of that relates to my suggestion.

But diodes to balance things out should be quite expensive and cost quite a bit of materials so that they are not easily accessible and give the player something to work for.

[ZestyLemons]

diods could be less efficient, as they would waste energy as heat, so too many in series would have no energy left over to charge a battery or power lights very well

Diodes in real life are hella efficient. I don't think there really needs to be a downside to them.

[Telarin]

I really like this idea. In addition, it would be nice to have some kind of surge suppression available to limit the damage done by an exploding power conduit. I'm thinking maybe 3 tiers of research:

First tier is basic power control which gives basic diodes and fuses. basic diodes consume a fair amount of power, produce a fair amount of heat, and have a limit to how much current can pass through them. Fuses limit the amount of power that can fuel a conduit explosion if the explosion is on one side of the fuse and the batteries on the other. When a fuse blows, it is destroyed and must be replaced manually.

Second tier allows for more advanced power controls: breakers and advanced diodes. Breakers work similar to fuses, except when they trip, they are not destroyed and will be automatically reset by a colonist. Advanced diodes allow for larger amounts of power to pass through them, and consume less power in the process, producing less heat.

Third tier allows power regulators. Power regulators can perform the function of both breakers and advanced diodes, however, they have a configurable power rate (i.e. You can set how many Watts they can transfer) and do not have to be reset or replaced after a conduit explosion.

From an internal technical standpoint, all of these devices would essentially split a power network into multiple networks (assuming the two networks were not otherwise joined by normal conduits). The devices would simply consume power on one network and produce power on the other network, perhaps acting internally as a small battery to help smooth out power handling between internal game ticks.

[Mechfried]

I think diodes don't need an artificially added downside, like heat prodution or  a high inefficiency.
Yes, diodes should cost little bit more than a conduit and they need to be a research.
The diodes just helps to have a better control of the power allocation.

p.s. I used google translator so english error  maybe occur.