[Proposals] Scanner Room, Multiroom Caps, Solar Panels, Base Batteries, and Ingots

BomooBomoo Join Date: 2018-02-05 Member: 236923Members
edited February 2018 in Ideas and Suggestions
Scanner Room

So one thing I've been trying to do, and I feel this is consistent with the ethos of the game's human civilization, is make bases with minimal footprints. Small, compact bases of two moon pools and two 3-stacks of multirooms with corridors in between. Except the odd man out seems to always be the scanner room. That it's an awkward unique room that has to be placed off by itself always has it jutting out from the side of my compact little base.

So, if I may, a proposal for either a redesign or an addition to the current game: a scanner room that connects to the multi-room building system. This could either be a standalone scanner room of the same shape as a multi-room, and one that plugs onto multiroom stacks and cannot be built on top of (because sensor suite roof), or a module, similar to a bio-reactor, that builds into the centre of multirooms, and only multirooms on the tops of stacks, and converts them to scanner rooms complete with snazzy sensor suites on their roofs.

For both, I think it would be nice to then need to build the scanner room upgrade station and scanner room console, and camera docking ports on the outside, separately once inside the completed shell, similarly to how the moonpool vehicle modification console is built. Wall panel snap + scanner room only pieces. This way you can modify the other wall panels to your liking, and accomodate windows or ladders or what have you as desired. You could even build just one camera docking port, or three, or any number you like. Being able to rename camera drones would be lovely, too.

Multi-room Caps

The domed tops of multirooms are prime real estate, yet we can't modify them in any way. What ways would I modify them? For example, I would love to convert my grow bed multiroom into a sort of greenhouse space by making a glass roof, or maybe a skylight in the middle of the dome roof for my personal quarters.

For this, I was thinking maybe something along the lines of carving the domed tops into panels similar to the walls. So you would have one large central round panel, and then eight "slices" radiating out from it and corresponding to the eight wall panels on the room's sides. So to make a full glass roof, you would need 9 glass. Or you could make a partial glass roof as desired, for example just 1 glass for the round central panel to make a skylight for your quarters, or for your aquarium.

All the same restrictions (e.g. no reinforcements) that apply to the roofs of corridor segments could apply to multiroom caps.

Solar Panels

I often find it difficult to place solar panels in a visually pleasing way. Just about the only place I can put them without them being an eyesore is the front bit of flat real estate on a moon pool. Everything else is curved to where it's difficult to align them so they don't look awkward.

And so I was thinking how nice it would be if I could have wall-snap solar panels. Essentially, they would be exterior modules that would snap to wall panels in some locations, in particular roof nodes, whether on corridor connectors or rooms. So if you have a straight I corridor segment, you could craft a solar wall panel running along the top, but not the sides. And to connect it to my proposal for multiroom caps, you could attach solar panels to the "slices." That is prime solar real estate, and it's sad to see it going to waste for lack of building options. Yes, I could litter it with freestanding solar, but that'd look fugly to say the least.

A nice bonus thing would be to make the freestanding solar panels swivel to track the sun, but I could easily live without that.

Another option could be a tile-snap high capacity solar array for use on base platforms. If the player wants to build a high-capacity solar farm, well, why not? This makes it easy! Snap four of these things, or just one big one, onto a platform and you can have your 100% solar powered base in the shallows without any fuss.

Base Batteries

Currently each power generation method has its own internal battery that it recharges, and that cannot be charged by anything else. You don't have 1000 base battery capacity with two bioreactors, you have 2x500, charged individually, as far as I am able to tell. Well, why's that so? Why not a wall-mounted battery piece that increases base battery capacity by a flat amount, and that can be recharged from any source, and that is drained first whenever a base module draws power? Sort of like a reinforcement or window, but with battery capacity instead of base hull integrity.

Ingot Storage

In the mid to late game, and even in the early game before I build a base with lots of locker space, I find myself awash in superfluous resources I have nowhere to keep. I vaguely remember the player being able to convert titanium ingots back into titanium chunks in early access. Was that ever a thing? Even if it wasn't, maybe it should be? It'd be a great way to store bulk resources, at least metals, or possibly glass. Compact 10 chunks of a metal into ingots, and back again as you need, to be able to stock a healthy supply without lockers completely taking your base over.

For the glass ingot idea in particular, I think in that case it would require coverting all recipes that use quartz, such as hatches or large lockers, into ones that use glass. I'd argue this wouldn't impact the game economy too badly, and it would make it way more convenient to manage my quartz/glass supply when I know I can safely convert all my quartz into more compact glass, and then into hypothetical glass ingots, without needing to keep huge amounts of bulky quartz on hand just for those odd recipes that require quartz rather than glass.

Well, that's all. Thanks for reading.

Comments

  • DocQuixoticDocQuixotic Join Date: 2018-01-30 Member: 236261Members
    I really like your ideas! The one thing I'm in doubt about is replacing the scanner room. I really like the way it breaks up the monotony of most bases, and I actually find myself thinking of other 'odd-sized' rooms that could be added to the game. Therefore I'd much prefer an addition over a replacement. Glass roofs for MPR's are very high on my wish list, and so are glass X and T compartments. I'd also like to be able to build a beacon in my base (preferably with a different icon in the HUD) rather than having to drop one nearby.
  • BeckysFootSlaveBeckysFootSlave Germany Join Date: 2016-12-27 Member: 225560Members
    @DocQuixotic better as placing a beacon in base: use the radio as beacon!?
  • BomooBomoo Join Date: 2018-02-05 Member: 236923Members
    edited February 2018
    @DocQuixotic better as placing a beacon in base: use the radio as beacon!?

    To tie it back to my multiroom roof idea, maybe one of the things you could stick on your roof "slices" could be a little transponder module that creates an item on your beacon list, configurable from inside the base by interacting with it. Visually I'm thinking antennas, maybe a little spinny sonar dealie. Dizzying technical terms, I know.

    Or possibly a sort of wall-mounted item similar to a radio or crafting table that acts as a sort of base manager/customization console similar to vehicle customization stations. Change the colour scheme of your base exterior, maybe internal lighting, change its transponder beacon name/colour (if transponder module is installed), change its name, etc.

    I really like your ideas! The one thing I'm in doubt about is replacing the scanner room. I really like the way it breaks up the monotony of most bases, and I actually find myself thinking of other 'odd-sized' rooms that could be added to the game. Therefore I'd much prefer an addition over a replacement. Glass roofs for MPR's are very high on my wish list, and so are glass X and T compartments. I'd also like to be able to build a beacon in my base (preferably with a different icon in the HUD) rather than having to drop one nearby.

    Thanks! An extra option it is, then. Generally I'd prefer more options vs. replacements since there's always folks who like it one way, and folks who like it another way. Besides, the existing scanner room is already in the game and it'd be mad to want to remove content that's already completed and functioning perfectly fine.

    For the way I build, for example, I'd still be using the current scanner room for making compact little scanner posts at distant locations. I love to put just a simple scanner post + hatch + 4x range upgrade next to a thermal vent for power, and my proposed scanner multiroom would be way more annoying to build tiny scanner posts with.
  • Cire555Cire555 bend Join Date: 2018-01-02 Member: 234752Members
    I love your suggestions, something that jumped out to me was customizable roofs for the multirooms I think that would be awesome, but I would love if it let me turn the roof into a growbed, I just think it would look really cool to have creepvines growing out of the top of my base, I’m not sure how it would be added as a scannable upgrade but I think it would be amazing
  • ranmafanranmafan Join Date: 2018-02-04 Member: 236837Members
    I always thought it was weird you couldn't convert ingots to chunks again, in my first game I converted all my titanium to ingots thinking I could revert them back but... I couldn't... ;_;
  • Wambo333Wambo333 Join Date: 2018-02-10 Member: 237293Members
    Bomoo wrote: »
    I often find it difficult to place solar panels in a visually pleasing way.

    I thought I was the only one who went crazy over this.
  • BomooBomoo Join Date: 2018-02-05 Member: 236923Members
    ranmafan wrote: »
    I always thought it was weird you couldn't convert ingots to chunks again, in my first game I converted all my titanium to ingots thinking I could revert them back but... I couldn't... ;_;

    Thanks! And yeah, that's also a great idea. Sort of a green roof for your base. Love it. You could either make it functional by planting usable seabed crops, or decorative by planting things like ferns or grasses to make your base blend into the landscape. Great stuff.
  • RandyKnappRandyKnapp Seattle, WA, USA Join Date: 2018-03-16 Member: 239174Members
    Hey, my mod HabitatControlPanel has a base-powering battery, as well as a built-in beacon. You can find it on Nexus Mods (I can't post the link because I haven't been on this forum very long)
  • EkUlEkUl Germany Join Date: 2017-05-03 Member: 230214Members
  • Number35Number35 Join Date: 2016-12-03 Member: 224491Members
    I also agree with being able to modify the roof.
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