[MOD] (Alpha 5) BetterPower+ (V5.0.0): Updated 16/07/14

Started by Architect, February 28, 2014, 07:36:51 PM

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Architect


Description:
This mod adds in various new methods of producing power, storing power, and using power. All of which require various different levels of research totalling over 35000 points of in game research time on top of what is already in game. BetterPower+ also has an addition which can be used in conjunction with it: BetterPowerHard.

Features:

Some of the major features in BetterPower+ (including its two additions) are:
>> BetterPower+
>>> Conveyor belts
>>> New methods of power generation such as coal burning, lightning harvesting, and wind turbines
>>> New methods of mining such as drilling through steam geysers
>>> New incidents including space debris and plasma storms
>>> Wall lighting
>> BetterPowerHard
>>> Power loss inherent in all methods of power transmition
>>> More realistic power transmition capabilities early game

Mod Team:
>> Architect - Project lead / XML manipulator / C# DLL creator
>> mrofa - Texture artist

How to use:
>> Research the building or research paths you wish to unlock
>> Build researched stuff
>> Own raiders
>> Repeat for all new methods of power generation and usage

Downloads:
Alpha 5 - BetterPower+(V5.0.0):   BetterPowerHard(V5.0.0):
Alpha 4 - BetterPower+(V4.1.0):   BetterPowerHard(V4.0.0):
Previous versions can be gained by messaging me and asking for download links.

Also, this mod is featured here for all those who wish to download. However, check the version number matches the one listed here, as it may not be up to date.
Downloads of BetterPower+ and its additions for previous versions of RimWorld that are not listed here can be found on the wikia.

Screenshots and Videos:
A quick video can be found by clicking the image below:


How to install:
>> Unzip the contents and place them in your RimWorld/Mods folder.
>> Activate the BetterPower mod in the mod menu in game for default additions.
>> Activate the BetterPowerHard mod in the mod menu in game for changed wall additions.

Notes:
Please, feel free to post opinions, ideas, textures, and anything else in the comment section below.

Change Log:
"//" means that the feature is in progress, and not yet released.

//BetterPower+(V5.2.0)
>>// Changed lights built with nuclear waste to cause fear in colonists.
>>// Changed research techs into more of a tech tree with progression rather than all at once.
>>// Changed hoppers to now decide what storage they take based on what they are placed next to.
>>// Added better nuclear power generation through addition of component buildings.
>>// Added sorter for conveyor belts.
>>// Added bio-power generation methods.
>>// Added circuitry, only a cost component of advanced electrical buildings
>>// Added power cell items of varying quality.
>>// Added new mysterious object incidents. Some are less explodey, some are not.

//BetterPower+(V5.1.0)
>>// Changed coal burner to allow for wood burning too.
>>// Changed vanilla incidents to be affected by AA turret.
>>// Changed trader defs so that they are actually up to date with alpha 5.0
>>// Added exercise bike.
>>// Added frames similar to those which can be found in Minecraft's RedPower mod.
>>// Added frame motors.

BetterPowerHard(V5.0.0)
>> Removed buried power conduit.
>> Bought BetterPowerHard up to date with alpha 5.

BetterPower+(V5.0.0)
>> Bought BetterPower+ up to date with alpha 5.

BetterPower+(V4.1.0)
>> Fixed coal production getting stuck in walls surrounding it.
>> Fixed issue with laser drill time resetting upon a power failure.
>> Fixed various issues with data not being saved when games are saved.
>> Fixed confusion with hoppers not accepting food by default.
>> Fixed lightning rods all receiving strikes at the same time.
>> Fixed wall lights being OP.
>> Fixed framerate drops caused by having too many wall lights on a single map.
>> Fixed lightning rod failing to acknowledge different weathers.
>> Fixed wind turbine failing to acknowledge different weathers.
>> Fixed coal feeders accepting things that they shouldn't.
>> Changed lightning rods to be more balanced.
>> Changed steam vents to damage pawns standing on them when they vent.
>> Removed wire spools completely.
>> Removed Tinker's table.
>> Removed changes made to map generator for mod compatibility reasons.
>> Removed modifications to traders until a time where the modifications can be re-implemented properly.
>> Added method of destroying thick rock roofs.
>> Added lights built using nuclear waste.
>> Added AA turret to deal with falling raiders and general debris in its range. (Will only shoot mysterious objects on release, further upgrades to follow)
>> Added medical bay for injured colonists. They won't use it unless drafted to do so though.
>> Added power cell.
>> Added power cell draining station.
>> Added power cell charging station.
>> Added more research.

BetterPower+(V4.0.3)
>> Fixed coal miner creating coal where colonists cannot reach it.
>> Fixed barbed wire not damaging colonists when they pass through it.
>> Fixed laser drill drill time getting reset every time the game saves.
>> Fixed issue with nuclear control spawning waste randomly.

BetterPower+(V4.0.2)
>> Fixed charged wire not damaging pawns as they move through it.
>> Fixed laser drill failing to create steam geysers.
>> Fixed coal miner failing to produce coal.
>> Fixed broken mysterious part incidents.
>> Fixed nuclear waste failing to deplete.
>> Fixed conveyor belt loading and unloading over-textures being drawn at the same angle no matter what the rotation is.
>> Fixed conveyor belts offloading goods explosively.
>> Added power monitor texture.
>> Added generator part texture.

BetterPower+(V4.0.1)
>> Fixed outdated designation categories stopping buildings from being displayed in the Architect.

BetterPowerHard(V4.0.0)
>> Bought BetterPowerHard up to date with alpha 4 build.

BetterPower+(V4.0.0)
>> Changed nuclear waste so that it stopped randomly rotating when it had finished decaying.
>> Added detection belt.
>> Fixed crossing belt texture rotation.
>> Changed mod description.
>> Simplified conveyor belt usage. (Removed loader and unloader belt, conveyor belt can now be set to load and unload stuff).
>> Changed conveying method of conveyor belts to accept debris items such as nuclear waste.
>> Fixed depleted uranium trying to tick when it shouldn't.
>> Fixed over draw issue with conveyor belt textures, so now things can be seen underneath conveyor belt covers.
>> Fixed some coloured lights being immune to rain fall.
>> Increased power production capabilities of wind turbines significantly.
>> Changed wind turbine texture.
>> Added animation to wind turbine texture. (Experimental)
>> Added wall lights emergency mode.
>> Changed the texture and name of buried power conduits.
>> Changed items failing to stack when coming off of conveyor belts.
>> Stopped asteroid hit and engine part fall from occurring in unbuildable spaces around map edge.
>> Increased energy production rate of wind turbines.
>> Added power net monitor.
>> Added new mysterious object incident.
>> Removed coloured lights and their research.
>> Removed flood lights and its research.
>> Removed wire spool costs of all buildings.
>> Bought BetterPower+ up to date with Alpha 4 build.

BetterPower+(V2.4.1)
>> Reduced charged wire damage.
>> Increased the amount of wire gained from metal at tinker's table.
>> Fixed nuclear control glowing persisting after nuclear reactor has been destroyed.
>> Fixed pathing errors caused by nuclear waste and depleted nuclear waste.
>> Tidied up wind turbines code.
>> Reduced chance of asteroid hit and plasma storm occurring.
>> Changed steam vent back to the structure designation category.

BetterPower+(V2.4.0)
>> Completely overhauled lightning rods and how they worked.
>> Removed metal cost from buried power conduits, and increased wire cost.
>> Removed lighting from nuclear waste.
>> Increased decay time of nuclear waste to 14 in game days.
>> Changed laser drill to only hiss when powered.
>> Increased time taken to dig a steam geyser using the laser drill to 10 in game days.
>> Added message displayed when nuclear waste becomes depleted.
>> Added depleted nuclear waste debris.
>> Changed nuclear waste so that it becomes depleted nuclear waste when it has finished decaying.
>> Increased the amount of damage the nuclear reactor will take before it explodes.
>> Nuclear reactor will no longer explode when damaged if no uranium is in it.
>> Removed wall lights emergency mode until I can get them working more reliably.
>> Optimised all code so less calls are made every tick when it really isn't necessary.
>> Fixed compression error with nuclear waste at save time.
>> Reduced the number of wire resources spawning on colony start.
>> Changed steam vent to the floors designation category.
>> Added crossable conveyor belts.
>> Changed tinker's table texture.
>> Increased gain from deconstruction of fallen engine part.

BetterPower+(V2.3.4)
>> Changed the length of decay to be randomised for nuclear waste.
>> Fixed wall lights spawning wire every time they changed again.
>> Fixed engine part and wall lights being not being de-constructable.

BetterPower+(V2.3.3)
>> Fixed wall lights spawning wire every time they changed.
>> Fixed chance error with plasma storm incident.
>> Fixed coal feeder accepting wires.

BetterPower+(V2.3.2)
>> Added delay between complete construction and damage dealing on barbed and charged wire.
>> Removed wire cost on walls.`
>> Removed metal cost on conduits.

BetterPower+(V2.3.1)
>> Fixed issue with conveyor belts producing buggy items which colonists couldn't interact with properly.
>> Changed wall lights to flicker when damaged.
>> Reduced chance of asteroid hit occurring.
>> Changed where coal gets spawned to when mined by coal miner.

BetterPower+(V2.3.0)
>> Fixed sun lamp requiring research unnecessarily.
>> Fixed belt feed not accepting all items.
>> Added steam vent. Entirely aesthetic, but does blow cool steam.
>> Added wire spool item.
>> Changed map generation so that wire falls with you on colony start.
>> Added work bench for tinkering.
>> Fixed old trader kinds to bring them in-line with alpha three.
>> Changed anything capable of transmitting or receiving power to require wire during construction.
>> Changed coal miner to needing to be built upon a steam geyser.
>> Fixed more spelling and grammar mistakes.
>> Fixed sun lamps and flood lights never making an are brightly lit.
>> Fixed errors regarding no overLight categories in XML files.
>> Added nuclear waste item. It glows, decays, and inspires fear.
>> Changed nuclear reactors so that they produce nuclear waste.

BetterPower+(V2.2.1)
>> Fixed the bugs causing lights to make the game crash.
>> Added a message to display when the plasma storm begins.

BetterPower+(V2.2.0)
>> Added barbed wire.
>> Added charged wire.
>> Added charged wire research.
>> Added laser drill texture.
>> Removed ability to outright dig steam geysers.
>> Changed coloured light textures.
>> Spell checked all in game text (probably quite badly).


BetterPower+(V2.1.0)
>> Added falling space debris incident. Currently only causes plasma storms.
>> Added asteroid hit incident which opens up a steam geyser on impact.
>> Wind turbines now require two spaces in front of them and spaces behind to operate.
>> Wind turbines now output power based on a random integer in a range to simulate fluctuating wind speed
>> Wind turbines now change output range based on current weather.
>> Removed Wind farms.
>> Added coal power plant.
>> Added coal feeder.
>> Added coal miner.
>> Added steam geyser digging laser.
>> Added nuclear power plant.
>> Added coal resource.
>> Changed hopper default accepted resources.
>> Added conveyor belt.
>> Added loader belt.
>> Added belt feed.
>> Added unloader belt.
>> Added coloured lights.
>> Added emergency wall lighting.
>> Added outdoor light.
>> Added large battery.
>> Added small battery.
>> Added 29100 points worth of in game research.
>> Added buried power conduit, has considerable more health than a normal conduit.
>> Added lightning rod.
>> Removed efficient battery.
>> Removed pumping station.

BetterPowerHard(V2.1.0)
>> Added power cost to all methods of power transition.
>> Removed power transmition from default metal walls
>> Changed power conduit's rain resistance.

BetterPower+(V1.3.0)
>> Added BetterPowerHard contents
>> Changed all buildings bar wind farm to block light
>> Changed shadows on wind turbine and wind farms
>> Changed name of Efficient battery research to fit in GUI
>> Disabled electrical fires on Large battery
>> Fixed lava pumping stations being available before pumping was researched
Check out BetterPower+ and all its derivatives by clicking the picture below.

It adds many new methods of power generation and uses for it, as well as other things such as incidents.


JonoRig

ill try this tomo, as its 1am here :P, but looking at the description, i would suggest lowering the power output, as, although it is a researchable tech, it makes solar power redundant, rather than allowing the wind advantage (24 hour running) to complement it; but thats just my opinion, and you know what people say about them. Also, ur temp graphic is fine other then it makes my ocd scream...

FowlJ

Quote from: JonoRig on February 28, 2014, 08:04:21 PMi would suggest lowering the power output,

This. Frankly, if I were you, what I would do is lower the power output to less than half the solar panel - trading raw power output for consistency. The solar panel works only for half the day and not at all during an eclipse. The geothermal works 24/7 and during eclipse, but needs to be placed on a geothermal vent. Making a power source with neither of those drawbacks but giving it a drawback of it's own (low power rate) makes it something that fills a niche rather than being the obvious best choice.

Of course, geothermal is really, really good and so there perhaps isn't as much depth to the system as I suggest, but frankly I think I'm going to nerf it in my own game because wow, it's really good. (Though I generated a map today that doesn't have a vent on the surface, so that's a consideration)

The K

#3
Quote from: FowlJ on February 28, 2014, 08:40:29 PM

This. Frankly, if I were you, what I would do is lower the power output to less than half the solar panel - trading raw power output for consistency.


I agree, anything equal to or greater than half of the power output of the solar panel becomes op.

Maybe do an optional version? One for people that want a new power generator to add to their power systems, and one for people that want to be rewarded for their research and dedication with a power generator that can defy the almighty Randy Random.

Entityofsin

The amount of ground the power source takes up is also something to consider. Also, on maps where solar generators get hit with the shadow of cliffs, buildings, etc. affect it's power output during the day and can cause a decrease in power early in the day. That can cause colonies with low energy storage to go energy starved very quickly.

I think one of the best power sources to consider building into a mod would be one that works underground, generates around 750 power, takes around 400 metal to make, and only takes up the same room as a battery.

I don't mind wind generators or anything but I really would rather have a power source that works underground and is expensive as heck to make. Cause I think one of the coolest things you could make is an underground base where raiders try and run down a corridor to break into the base but get gunned down by people behind a bunker wall (if you use the bunker mod that's on the forums).

Right now we only have solar and geo for energy and they both have their limitations. I have a save file where I have over 30 solar panels helping a single geo plant giving my colony power. Eclipse have been able to cause my colony to run out of its 95,000 stored energy on more than one instance and it has cost me to lose some of my guys from raiders (not anymore since I've been able to survive long enough to find out that raiders stop showing up at a certain point) cause my turrets stopped working.

NephilimNexus

Any way to turn the .png into a simple animated picture of a rotating fan?  That would be kinda neat.

Of course the catch is that to see the fan like that it would have to be facing straight up, which is... odd.

What would be easier to animate, and more practical anyway, would be the Asian style windmill, which from above, it would simply look like a rotating box on top of some machinery.




The K

Quote from: NephilimNexus on March 01, 2014, 12:58:51 AM
Any way to turn the .png into a simple animated picture of a rotating fan?  That would be kinda neat.

Of course the catch is that to see the fan like that it would have to be facing straight up, which is... odd.

What would be easier to animate, and more practical anyway, would be the Asian style windmill, which from above, it would simply look like a rotating box on top of some machinery.

Rimworld's overall art style is... odd. Some buildings are at an angle while others are top down, and then you have a couple buildings, like lamps, that are seen from the side. Finally you have the pawns that just keep changing depending on their status. This is somewhat weird but it lets you use any style of art that you deem necessary.

I don't know if gifs/image cycles are supported yet but it would be simple for me to animate the turbine once it's supported.

The K

New turbine that may fit in with Rimworld a bit better. Bottom and color choice of the last were pretty bad :P



[attachment deleted by admin: too old]

Architect

Thank you everyone for your feedback! :D I shall begin work on nerfing the wind farm in roughly 2 hours, and @The K I shall implement your texture and give you full credit for it at the same time, though I may remove the stand as I would rather like it to look top down?

As for other methods of power generation, I shall also work on them today. One very much like the one @Entityofsin suggested, and one of my own design. Again, both will have their own research projects to carry out just like the wind farm.
Check out BetterPower+ and all its derivatives by clicking the picture below.

It adds many new methods of power generation and uses for it, as well as other things such as incidents.


TheEisbaer

I've made a texture (I'm not professional) it's top-down-view:

Architect

@TheEisbaer Excellent! :D I'll make a really tiny singular standing wind turbine generator as well with very small output, and this can be the texture for that?
Check out BetterPower+ and all its derivatives by clicking the picture below.

It adds many new methods of power generation and uses for it, as well as other things such as incidents.


TimMartland

You might have to mess with shadows a lot to get it to cast that really tall, long shadow. But good luck, this will be awesome!
'Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying'
-Arthur C. Clarke'
'Needs moar boosters!'
-Jebadiah Kerman

Architect

Oh shadow stuff, I completely forgot to change that on the wind farm, cheers @TimMartland. I reckon I know how to do it, but it's still gonna cast like a square unfortunately :/
Check out BetterPower+ and all its derivatives by clicking the picture below.

It adds many new methods of power generation and uses for it, as well as other things such as incidents.


TheEisbaer

@Architect Ofcourse you can use it :D

Architect

#14
New update, check the original post to see new features. I will be adding more ways of storing power as a matter of course next, but for now, I think I could do with some different coloured lights in a mod ;)

edit:
Couldn't resist, two new methods of storing power and the research necessary to go with them are now in the mod :D The next step will be to make an exercise bike which the colonists can use to make power, and a nuclear reactor which uses uranium.
Check out BetterPower+ and all its derivatives by clicking the picture below.

It adds many new methods of power generation and uses for it, as well as other things such as incidents.