solar switches

[yokesee]

I love this game.
I would like to put solar switches.
to turn things like lamps depending on whether it is day or night.

a greeting

[BetaSpectre]

IMO the current switch system is fine.

[REMworlder]

Just one more switch option would be great, whether it's a simple timer, proximity, or light detector switch. I hate losing so much electricity running useless machinery during the night. It's awful. Sun lamps are a huge offender, since plants only grow 11-13 hours a day but the sun lamps are burning energy 24/7.

The worst thing is I could cut down on a lot of power usage by turning it off/on manually using the switches and circuits, but that's also a lot of incessant micro even if I'm only clicking twice a day. And RimWorld is about building cool colonies that function without that sort of thing.

[Toggle]

IMO the current switch system is fine.

I very much disagree. Simply being able to set a turn on and off time on a switch on a 2nd 'time' or 'advanced' switch would save micromanagement and be fantastic, since A LOT of electricity is used at night. As long as you wired your freezer up to another line away from the time switch, you could hook everything in your base up to it based off your colonist sleeping times.

[BetaSpectre]

IMO the current switch system is fine.

I very much disagree. Simply being able to set a turn on and off time on a switch on a 2nd 'time' or 'advanced' switch would save micromanagement and be fantastic, since A LOT of electricity is used at night. As long as you wired your freezer up to another line away from the time switch, you could hook everything in your base up to it based off your colonist sleeping times.

While I personally find that I can manage the electricity just fine with switches now, if other people want something like this then why not?

[Toggle]

Might be better as a mod though.

[jamesinar]

The mod works pretty well. https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=2890.0

[yokesee]

or add in research

[Limdood]

timer switches would be nice.

for those people who don't want it getting TOO automated, make the timer switches still need to be flicked.  Maybe you could set bills on a switch: turn on at 19h, turn off at 6h.  At 19h, a colonist with the flick job would need to run over and hit the switch.  Depending on HOW automated it could get, you could add in "turn on/off when raid warning/mad animal/manhunter pack happens"  or "Turn on/off when no hostile pawns/manhunter animals are on the map"

It isn't "automating" defenses - its automating the order to flick the switch.  I still need a pawn to go do it, i just no longer have to pause, hit the button....or go and search every animal on the map to see if there are any manhunter squirrels left.  I already HAVE access to all the information in those bills above, its just a real-life time saver, nothing more.

In other words, it just removes some of the manual micromanagement, and lets me get back to the game playing.

[REMworlder]

Having timer or automated switches need to be flicked is a really cool idea!

Imagine syncing a colonist's sleep schedule so he wakes up at dawn to turn off night lights. Imagine a colonist with a room full of switches he uses every day. That sounds neat and really involves colonists with player planning.

[skullywag]

Yeah could have the night shift flicking the lights off before going to bed.