Powering Vehicles from Solar

[Shedcore]

Hi Tynan and all,

I'm sure i've seen a discussion somewhere around here about getting vehicles in game for collecting resources/getting colonists to battles/as mobile defences which would be great.

What i've been thinking about is how to go about powering vehicles without filling them with batteries (which can potentially run out in the middle of nowhere) or creating additional resources for the production of fuels such as crude oil refinement for petrol etc.

My thought is to use water (pretty sure i saw something about this being added soonish) to produce hydrogen (via electrolysis) and fuel cells to convert it back into energy (i'm not just some strange eco-warrior type, this is my job).

This would give a whole new economy to the game plus a whole bunch of different structures (electrolysers, refuelling stations, water distillers), it's also follows the games (apparent) focus on non-fossil fuel based energy sources.

Anyway, was just a thought, love the game, let me know what you think.

Also if there's solar power surely we should get some wind turbines, maybe bio-mass generators? I dunno, now i'm just wittering on.

Thanks for making the game/decimating my free time

[Monkfish]

There's a mod in development that adds vehicles (just decorative at this stage), but I suggested on that thread about having solar powered vehicles that would integrate with a charging station to 'refuel' them.

Post is here: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=2170.msg23369#msg23369

[Shedcore]

Ah, good stuff.

Still, maybe this could be an upgrade for vehicles or something similar as running from fuel cells rather than batteries will (in reality) give about 4 times the runtime of a battery based system.

Would also make sense as solar powered vehicles would have the possibility of running dry during an eclipse where as a fuel cell vehicle could have a cylinder of hydrogen delivered by a colonist if it ever ran out whilst outside of a base.

Could also mess around with compressor upgrades to create additional fuel capacity, building refillable cylinders to store fuel, cylinders could also be used like mines, as a backup for battery/solar power systems, storing large amounts of energy in small(er) spaces, trading in energy, disasters caused by hydrogen leaks (causing explosions at the least, deflagration at the most), would also be good for portable equipment for lighting, mining etc.

I'm really just going through the uses/hazard i deal with on a regular basis, could be fun tho!

Also the only byproduct of a fuel cell is water, useful no?

[Monkfish]

Good suggestions, they'd add quite a bit of depth to vehicles (if they make it into the core game).

[Somz]

As far as I know, moving objects bigger than one tile is a real pain between the buttcheeks, so vehicles probably won't be implented (at least not in the near future), also Mr. Tynan said something like this too.