water as a semi rare resource

[salt1219]

I was thinking water should be collected like solar panels collect power, there would be a rain catch that fills a tank that is used over time.
Alternately a little water could be collected from cacti

Pools of standing water should be super rare

Workers should consume water daily and more so when they work

Fires should cost water to put out quickly or you can pat them out slowly.

If a worker is thirsty and water is low they should stop working at full tilt to conserve water.

If water is fully out they should risk death.

...almost forgot water should be used for sanitation, with low water stores workers should also be at risk of disease.  (Think toilets, hand washing, bathing)

[Hypolite]

I like that idea as well, but I'm not against water bodies. However, water from rivers and lakes would have to be pumped and carried to the base, which adds to its vulnerability, much like the geothermal station is for power right now.

[salt1219]

I like rivers and lakes too, I was trying to keep the desert theme

If he adds other random biomes I definitely want Lakes and rivers, maybe swamps.
I have no idea how that would work in a top down single layer game, what stops it from spreading out and what does it look like empty?

I suppose a new land type would work, river/lake bed.  It would be like dirt or sand, you can't mine it.   Water could be added/removed from it and placing water to form a man made lake/river would auto spawn lake/river bed underneath.

Water would stay confined to beds unless placed elsewhere.

I should have added crops to my first post as another water use.

[Sobel]

Or if we can't have in game rivers/lakes etc. maybe have a building such as atmospheric condenser. That way you could have tiered buildings that provide water and have other building have a draw.

Such as showers/baths/drink production etc. all having certain amounts of water use. Then as you get more colonists you need better/more atmospheric condensers to provide water.

Got the idea from Peter F Hamiltons books, think it was the Commonwealth series where there are buildings that can directly condense water from the atmosphere for a clean water supply.

[AspenShadow]

Or if we can't have in game rivers/lakes etc. maybe have a building such as atmospheric condenser. That way you could have tiered buildings that provide water and have other building have a draw.

Really liking this idea if a water system isn't introduced; or at the very least as a placeholder to test the water-system-dependent construction before actual water terrain is added.

[Starkiller]

Managing your water supply is a feature i would like to see implemented in the game.

[Zeiph]

Maybe (I know this suggestion may kill Ty, but whatever, suggestion time !) having the possibility to have running bodies of water that you can divert to get nearer to your base, and the possibility to have bridges over these bodies of water in order to make the crossing faster than just going through shoals (thanks google translation ^^').

[British]

Maybe (I know this suggestion may kill Ty, but whatever, suggestion time !) having the possibility to have running bodies of water that you can divert to get nearer to your base, and the possibility to have bridges over these bodies of water in order to make the crossing faster than just going through shoals (thanks google translation ^^').

Yes for bridges, but redirecting streams might be a bit extreme (and probably too easy as well, in comparison to building canalizations).

[enystrom8734]

Would definitely be a nice feature. Maybe having the water sources be unpure and require filtration? Colonists would get unhappy thoughts from drinking straight from the 'well', then happier thoughts with filtration.

Also the added bathroom fixtures could be a boost to happiness in their rooms, personal bathroom? Win! Communal? Can't believe how bad Oaf's dump smelled! Haha!

[Pheanox]

I could have sworn I posted in this thread last night, I must have accidentally closed the the tab.  My thoughts were that water as a rarity should come in to affect if the Biomes module gets in the game.  In the typical biome we have seen, it rains and is foggy a lot.  These are conditions that would indicate water supply is not something to worry about.  (Despite cacti and the like around the map)

But if you are on a marsh or jungle world, perhaps water filtration has to be implemented to keep the water from spreading disease.  On a desert world, water has to be rationed, and you have to build wind traps (Yay Dune) to capture condensation in the air to keep the population watered.

Water as a resource would definitely be interesting, but I think it would be more interesting in some biomes, and less so in others.

[SpaceEatingTrex]

I agree that having water in addition to food would be a nice bit of added complexity which wouldn't be obtuse because of how intuitive it is (people need to drink to live). That gives another layer of depth to the game, without making it too complicated for new players.

If water is going to be included as a resource, it would need to have uses and sources. salt1219 did a good job of pointing some of these out in the opening post. I think the most important use for water would be requiring colonists to drink to live. As a consumable, players would have motivation to secure or create sources of water, which can lead to interesting stories.

As for sources of water, I think having scarce natural sources and a constructed artificial source would be a good idea. This gives players a choice between which ones to pursue. Natural sources could be bodies of water, or vegetation like cacti. Artificial sources could be any modern or futuristic technology for producing water, like the atmospheric condenser Sobel mentioned or anything else.

In order to make the decision between relying on natural sources or artificial sources of water meaningful for the player, each should have their own advantages and disadvantages. This is where the purification system several people have mentioned could come into play. Artificial sources could provide small amounts of purified water, while natural sources could provide more water but it would have to be purified before consumption or else the colonist suffer some negative effect.

There have been a number of good ideas posted in the thread already, and I'm just echoing the ones to make a simple system. When adding a new resource like this I think it's good to start small, and then as development continues the intricacies of the water system could be expanded.

[C.B. Klausberger]

I just couldn´t sleep right tonight and got an Idea, that came up already some times in the Forum. I would recommend Water as additional Main-Ressource, here as a little Concept:

AI Storyteller / Gameplay

• On the current Moon/Biome its quite rocky, would completely fit into the Place
  
• Water as a short term need (2x a day for a full Need fullfillment) therefore the growth & need of Food (long term need) could be slowed down
  
• Water as hard requirment for Hydroponics (wont work without) with high demand and optional for Potato-Fields (-50% Yield without Water)
  
• AI-Storyteller "Ice-Pirates"*: The whole Universe has only very low Water Ressource, Water is an immensely valuable substance and there are Pirates that steal as much Water as possible. Your crew crashlanded on a unknown world with rich Ice Ressources at both poles.
  
• Water collection-Missions for the exploration Module
  
• for personal hygiene of Colonists
  
• requirement for animal husbandry
  
• For cooking
  
• For Chemicals & Medicines  - Infusions, cough syrup, etc.
  
  Weather
  
• Very dry month´s and monsoos for diffrent demand/Supply situations
  
  Objects & Buildings
  
• Water out of underground/surface Ice-Mines as a rich & easy finite-deposit, and groundwater pumps or through "Rain-Collectors" as (slow/expensive) renewable-deposite, also possible as spin-off product from the Geothermal-Powerplant (Steam from geysr =Water = Less Power Production because of additional)
  
• Water Storage, wich could be infected by Raiders / Insane Colonists / felt in dead Squirrels / NanoBot-Virus
  
• Would need additional Water-Pipes for Supply of far out Ice Ressources, i.e. @ the edge of the Map
  
• Water treatment & recycling as new building
  
• Food procution per Fish-Farms/Aquacutlure with immense demands.
  
• Radiators & whole heating installations
  
• ceiling Fire extinguishers
  
• Barn for domesticated Muffalo
  
• TOILETS 
  
• ... SHOWERS!
  
  
  
  
  * like in the "Ice Pirates"-Movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Pirates

[salt1219]

@FlyingDwerli
all of that is essentially what i thought should be/ could be done with water if it was implemented.
i think the hardest thing to do would be striking a good balance between the survivor sim elements and combat.  i don't think having to micromanage too many things is fun, but i do love the idea of adding water.

i would like to hear what tynan thinks about all this.

[mumblemumble]

Just want to say that, rain collectors shouldn't really be EXPENSIVE... in real life they are actually very cheap. Ingame they would be incredibly unreliable though (you need rain) and they would clog up real-estate.   I think water would be fine being cheap to get this way if water was also cheap to buy / sell, but wasn't always available to buy (so you cant make a huge money farm selling water, and that getting water isn't super expensive to buy, but comes down to if you CAN buy it or not)

On the whole though..water could be interesting, so long as the effects of not having it weren't crippling.

[Zootboy400]

I support this!