Power

[siqueule]

the power of the command center:
maybe it's the idle colonists who pedal
that would explain the moral who drop when there is a lot of unemployment  

[omagaalpha]

probley just solor power how Command Center power generation operate

[Freeza-CII]

But the MHD is only a plymouth tech.  How would the Eden CC run.  I think they run off of a few power cores from convecs because its a tect that is already known

[dm-horus]

MHD is possible on earth and is the basis for my electrostatic tether idea. The only difference between the two is that on earth (or new terra) it would be buried cables while the satellite option would be in orbit. The principle is the same.

Using Farradays priciple of conduction, an electromagnetic field (created by a planet) moving through a conductor (cables or tether) produces current. VAST amounts of it. The amount of power generated is limited only by the ability of the system to handle all the power and the size of the collector. I believe MHD generators use a grid field of plasma-filled tubes buried underground. Although it is mentioned in OP2 the use of plasma to generate power in this way is not necessary and I consider it to be an aberrant product of the rewriting the OP2 tech and the OP2 story after the first draft attempt (it was explained that making op2 ultra-realistic in terms of tech and research would make the game unfeasible). As a result the 'dumbing down' of the tech and story incorporated more pseudoscience and general nonsense into research, etc.

Example: The use of plasma in MHD generators isnt necessary, neither are rare ores or a super-conductor upgrade. Electrostatic generators (the real-world term equivalent to OP2 MHD's) function perfectly using common materials. The use of super conductors and rare materials would only maximize efficiency by a percentage but are NOT necessary to primary function. If this were not the case, we wouldnt have even basic power generation today.

Example: Cold fusion is not more efficient than regular. It is simply slightly less dangerous in that it does not produce vast amounts of excess thermal energy that must be dumped or controlled. Any kind of fusion is STILL fusion and therefore inherently dangerous no matter how it is implimented. Cold fusion would not create a massive leap in size reduction of reactors or power generators. The only benefit of having cold fusion is that it would be cold, not hot. The equipment needed to maintain a state of cold fusion would still be as large and complicated as any 'hot' fusion generator.

The most efficient type of energy production is Electrostatic (MHD) with microwave transmission. As elecrostatic is a passive means of power generation, has little or no moving parts, nothing to wear out and wouldnt even require capacitor banks or buffers as the energy production is always constant and could simply be 'cut back' or 'turned up' as power demand fluctuates. Energy storage would be possible with batteries similar to what we see today, although would need to be advanced to the point that long-range offroad electric vehicles would be feasible. Microwave transmission of the power generated by electrostatic means would be efficient although not safe by todays standards. Anything airborne would be cooked if it passed through line of sight between microwave transmission sources.

Considering all this, I can see how the game designers decided to (for the most part) leave reality at the door when making OP2. I will say that OP2 is one of the best implimentations of pseudoscience Ive ever seen in a game. It successfully incorporates popular scientific discourse (genetics, physics, space) and societal perceptions of science and delivers it in a means that seems feasible and not corny despite the game's age. Nicely done.

[siqueule]

the geocons, they have a problem: they aren't solid, and they're never well placed:

in the last mission of the eden campaign, 50% of the energy is produced by only one geothermic central; she's in full medium  with one trajectory of a enemy wave, who take care of fire some gusts on the central, and the mission failed...    

[Sirbomber]

The campaigns are horrible examples of good geocon placement, especially since that GeoCon is basically supposed to get nuked. Or I always let it anyways.

But in multiplayer you will always have a fumarole nearby if you're playing a good map.

[siqueule]

have you already play on a bad map? without fumarolles... that could be interesting

[Sirbomber]

Are you implying I can't play OP2 without GeoCons?  <_<  

[siqueule]

just a few... you say that the bad maps are the maps without fumaroles in the proximity, that would say that you like the geocons... (I believe that we move away the topic :whistle: )

[Arklon]

dm-horus: Does that affect the magnetic field in a negative way or no? Losing the magnetic field would cause Earth's atmosphere to be blown away by solar winds.

[siqueule]

we are on new terra, if the atmosphere were blown by the solar winds, that would avoid the tornados and the storm

[Betaray]

horus, there are statements of truth and untruth in your post, we are describing the future here, there is no way you would be able to predict the statictics and danger of cool fusion, case in point my cool fusion idea (which is currenty endorced by MIT) would not have large fusion chambers, its chambers would be only a few nanometers wide, and bathed in coolent, so that if a rupture occures the only thing that would happon would be the eficency of the reactor would be decreased slightly, also the design uses plasma in a MHD setup to produce power, abit in a much simpler matter than the MHD in op2 (I origionally got the idea of using the reactors plasma to directly generate electrisity from the MHD genarator from op2 lol).  Luckly though, the main element in the reactor would be carbon, and silicon, there may be trace amounts of rare mettals in the laser assembly, but youve got a point there in there wouldnt need to be massive amounts of rare for superconductors and such, but it does balance the game, and I think thats mainly the reasion for it, the game deveolpers made the game balanced and fair, and than sent the finished version to the creative team, and they had to explain why everything was like that

[dm-horus]

Betaray: Yeah, I dont really hold it against Sierra or OP2 in that it isnt the most scientifically realistic. Its too fun the way it is If it were hyper-accurate it prolly wouldnt be a fun game to play. Game balancing does take precadent over realism.

Arklon: I dont know why people keep talking about our atmosphere blowing away if the magnetic field went away. There have been thousands of instances throughout history in which the earth has had either a reversed or nonexistant magnetic field and life survived just fine. The atosphere wouldnt blow away anymore than it does now. Despite what you may have read a field will always surround the planet. All large bodies have this. Mars is geologically dead (presumably this would mean that it could have no magnetic field) and yet it does have an EM field. Planets are mostly rocky with a metallic core. This is the case with all larger bodies across the universe. As such, having such a large amount of metals rotating in space naturally creates a magnetic field. Although it would not be strong enough to block harmful radiation as we are accustomed on earth, a field would still be present no matter how bad things got and would be capable of exploitation by MHD and electrostatic generators. The only way to remove nearly all vestiges of an EM field from a planet would be to blow it up into such small chunks that the field they generate would be negligable. Even moderately sized asteroids have a field large enough to generate power from. Keep in mind that the charged solar winds coming from a star can be harnessed by an MHD or ES Generator. The principle works by exploiting variances in charge in radiation. It doesnt matter if its coming from a planet spinning in space or a satellite in the path of charged solar wind. So in effect, the only place you could go where ES Generators wouldnt work is deep, empty space far enough away from magnetic fields so their effec couldnt be felt. The only place I can imagine like this would be in the vast emptiness between galaxies. So, yes MHD and Electrostatic Generators would work even if a planets EM field disappeared. It would work if the planet had an atmosphere or not and a lack of an EM field does not necessarily mean a planets atmosphere will be blown away. However, natural disasters which cause an EM field to disappear often herald the dissipation of an atmosphere as well. One is not connected to the other except that they are both symptoms of a singular problem. One does not necessarily cause the other (although having no EM field does make it hard to live).

The most common cause of a dissipating EM field and atmosphere is the halting of geologic activity on a planet. Wen the core and/or mantle stop spinning and cease to generate thermal geologic activity, the EM field dissipates and all that is left is the subtle remainder left by the presence of metals in the planet's crust and core. Since all geo activity has stopped, the planet isnt generating anymore heat and the surface cools. Combined with the lack of a radiation-deflecting EM field, this often results in the atmosphere slowly dissipating. Since no gases are being released from the planet in the form of volcanic or thermal activity, the atmosphere cannot be maintained and the loss of gas into space doesnt take long to result in the surface of the planet being exposed to vacuum. Keep in mind, the earth loses massive amounts of atmosphere into space every year. But due to the fact that our planet isnt geologically dead and that plant life is constantly producing oxygen, our atmosphere is maintained. A barren planet has no such production line and relies solely upon geologic activity to produce gas. When this goes away so does the atmosphere. The two symptoms (no EM field and no atmosphere) are the product of a single event (halting geologic activity).

[Vexhare]

MHD all the way... I'm in love with it.

[Shuffles]

OMG Spamming CC's to create power FTW!!!

[Sl0vi]

MHD ftw!!! I just love those! I usually destroy my toks and build them instead when I can.

The only other powersource that comes close is the CC! It's a life saver.

[siqueule]

with eden, I prefer the tokamaks
because the geocons aren't solid and the solar captors, it's too complicate to use

but I doesn't think to maintain my tokamaks <_<  

[BlackBox]

Yeah, I prefer MHD since they don't have all the other negative side effects of the other mass power plants. (CC excluded here). For example:
- Tokamaks damage themselves.
- Geothermal plants are weak (also you're constrained by fumarole placement, you can't build anywhere you want)
- Solar plants are cost ineffective (it would be cheaper to research and build MHDs or even build & repair tokamaks than to pay for all the resources you need for solar power). You need a spaceport (expensive, in both terms of ore, as well as scientists and power), then you need to build launch vehicles (either SULVs or RLVs, both of which are very costly). You then have to build the solar satellite and launch it).


Yes, MHD costs some rare, and you still have the problem with it blowing EMP radiation all over when it gets destroyed, but overall it's a lot cheaper than the other methods of generating power.