Outpost Universe Forums
Projects & Development => GORF => Hall of Fame => Topic started by: TH300 on March 19, 2006, 04:12:33 PM
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Mobile Solarpanel
Originally proposed by Sirbomber (http://forum.outpostuniverse.net/index.php?showtopic=2067&st=0&#entry37124)
Related ideas:
- none
Description:
A mobile unit that produces small amounts of power.
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Why mobile?
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good point, it technically would work on any place on the map.... unless maybe you're on a large map (world sized?)... you'd need satelites to "mirror" the power around the planet...
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good question why mobile.
I dont see how any thing mobile could produce enough energer or beable to handle the load from the solar sats. Plus having it mobile doesnt make much sence as there is nothing mobile that requires power in the first place. And if you spent the money on the solar sat and the research time you might as well go with a 400 output solar array.
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No reason for this I think.
At night it cant produce power and in day it can.
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hehe thats why it uses solar sats that beam the energy down with a high power microwave beam.
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I agree. This is a bad idea.
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I don't mind this idea.
Why mobile? I think so that you can follow the sun, since they're ground based they won't work at night. Or maybe so that you can move them away from your base if an enemy is coming.
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do you know how fast you have to go to keep up with the revolution of a planet. VERY DAMN FAST.
Moving power plant not good. moving the power plants away from the base means they only have the base to destroy no change.
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Your right. And the power getarated by the solar ground units is beamed from space. It could be 800m cloud cover during the night, it would still get power.
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The idea I originally had in mind was the colonies would build these before an evac so they wouldn't have to waste a ConVec holding a Tokamak and could carry something more important. When the colnoy was set up with a reliable power source, the mobile panels would be recycled or Garaged for the next evac.
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sounds like the lazy way out. if you have to evac and you have to tok you just build it and not worry about a vec that can supply power.
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sounds like the lazy way out.
That's kinda the point...
But when you think about it, if you have to pick up and move every few days/weeks/months/whatever it makes more sense to have a mobile power source following you than to carry a Tokamak with you everywhere you go.
But whatever. If the colonies don't evac after every mission this isn't really needed.
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No because i dont need a power source that can move around and it wouldnt have enough power to do any thing because of its size. I would build the CC and Smelter and the mine taking advandage of the game and letting me build up ore to about 2000 then build the Structure fact then a Tokamak if i didnt have one. But I would build one before I left the old colony and build it.
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Hmm... Well, everyone has their own thing.
Personally, I hate having to bring a Tokamak when I could bring something more useful... Like a Spaceport. Or at least a Solar Power Array.
Anything but a Tokamak, and I'm happy.
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Why dont we bring those things with us then?
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Because OP2 doesn't let you. The Mission Objectives think Tokamaks are better than good power sources.
If OP3 follows the same "evac after every mission so you don't die" pattern I want the objectives to say "Evacuate a power source" instead of limiting us to Tokamaks.
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then that is some thing to bring up with the coders instead of adding a vec to the game
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...And a mobile Solarpanel is one of the choices for said power source...
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Would it be possible to have in OP3 letting you evacuate any building you want that you have reaserched, plus any buildings you have to bring.
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Would it be possible to have in OP3 letting you evacuate any building you want that you have reaserched, plus any buildings you have to bring.
It will technically be possible.
However, we will decide on that when coding the missions. We don't even know if there will be an evac mission, yet.
Please don't answer to this post.
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Would it be possible to have in OP3 letting you evacuate any building you want that you have reaserched, plus any buildings you have to bring.
I like that idea - but if you wish to extend it, then any vechs that you have at the end of a mission are carried over to the next... unless the next is at a different base (not the one you just relocated)...
Could be a bad idea cause then people will just mass vechs every mission so that they have uber army...
Edit: added bad idea part...
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I understand that point.
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Just from the one who hasn't visited in a while, a Mobile Power Source could be a tactical advantage for such things as Multiplayer and all. Say a player's main tactic is to go after the Static power to starve their opponant of needed power for Gaurd Posts, Smelters, Research, etc. Then with a Mobile power source, a player can simply move the power generators away from harm's way, hence, saving much needed resources. I'm all for a mobile power source, Solar or Not.
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I'm for exploration of the idea of a mobile power source too (and it supports my other thread).
Plymouth makes a good point too. I can imagine several applications for this type of unit could open up possibilities for other types of ideas. (Vague enough?)
Though I do like the idea of being able to take your vechs with to the next mission (why would you leave any behind?), it does lend itself to the (mentioned) uber army like Homeworld. (Unless vechs had a limited power supply! :P )
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Vheicals WILL NOT have a power limitation in my oppinion. I wouldnt realy like to play OP3 if they did.
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Vehicle power was already discussed in another thread. I was really just trying to say we shouldn't completely rule out the idea of a mobile power source yet.
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Well, it might work. But WHY? WHY would they need one? The satalites are moblie, just not the reciver. The recever CANT be moblie, because the power is beamed down using a small laser or something, so if the recever moves, no power.
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Well to have a solar power vec you need a solar sat. I doubt you would beable to get one all the time in single player and this units seem to be useless in Multi.
A nice simple solution to this is to have the missions programed with Tokamak or greater instead of just tokamak. I think it uses tokamak because there the fastest to set up and dont require a sat and there cheap. MHD and Geo Cons dont need a sat but there a little more costly and a Geo con needs a vent.
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That's the point of the Mobile SolarPANEL - it's a solar panel with wheels and an engine.
No sats required.
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Solar panels arent very effient there is a reason why Solar panels power plants take up acres and acres of land. It would either have to unfold into some thing bigger then a starport or have a sat in orbit.
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That is why I said it needs a sat, but in the unit discription thing it says:
The satellite in high planetary orbit collects sunlight and converts it using photovoltaic cells into electricity, which in turn powers an array of MASERS, the microwave equivalent of a laser. These produce a narrow, high-energy beam of microwaves that must be aimed precisely at the small target the Solar Power Array provides, but which can be collected by a relatively small antenna array with negligible losses. This antenna converts the beam back into electricity, which in turn is broadcast for use by colony structures and vehicles.
We cant use a mobile one. If it didnt need a sat, it would have to be 4 starports and only work half the time.
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Part of why current solar collectors are so large is because existing photo cells are still very inefficient. I would imagine that solar cells of the future would be more efficient.
BUT - all of this is pointless anyway if we're talking about a planet that has heavy cloud cover. (Another case of WTF is our goal for "design discussions"?)
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Since the Solar sats beam there energy down with a focused Microwave it would go through the cloud cover. The photographed venus using microwaves i believe and microwaves go through clouds here on earth i would imagen ones powerful enough to carry significant loads of power would blast right on through.
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I suppose my comment about the cloud cover was about having a mobile solar collector/panel instead of a mobile solar receiver.
And I think they actually mapped Venus using radar... I suppose it could be a microwave powered radar.
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But to have a sat up for some thing that is mobile it seems alot easier to just build a tokamak since a panel array wouldnt work.
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There wouldnt be any sun for it to coloect. The cloud cover on Venus is THICK. Miles thick. You cant get much good sun though that, but all sun that does get though is trapped, and thats why venus is so hot.
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I'm not really sure that I see an advantage to a mobile power source either. I know you could move it around during an attack, but it would have much less armor and hit points than a building. If it was jumped by armed vechs, it wouldn't have a chance.
I can see the "keep away" advantage, but that's the only one I can think of. Unless it becomes part of the campaign somehow.
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I dont see how it would. Its to useless.