Difference between revisions of "General Structure Mechanics (Game Mechanics)"

Power

Some structures, namely Factories and Harvesters, require energy resources to operate. Attempting to use these structures without power will only cause them to shut down after turning them on.

3.4) How do I power my harvesters?

After placing your harvester, you can access the "Status" page by clicking on the harvester, selecting "Manage" and then "Status" from the radial menu. This will give you a report on the harvester's current condition and status. It will show how many days of maintenance and (if applicable to that harvester type) power are in the harvester.

To add power, select "Deposit Power" from the radial menu. A screen will be displayed showing how much power you have on you, and you can enter an amount or drag a slider to select the amount of power you want to deposit.

A couple of notes about power- there are a number of items in the game with the word "fuel" in them, such as liquid petrochemical fuel, and solid petrochemical fuel. These are NOT used as power in harvesters, although the wording in certain sections of documentation and descriptions might make you think so. Here are the types of power you can use for harvesters:

   * Solar (liquid) energy.
   * Wind (liquid) energy.
   * Radioactive (fusion) energy. 

The first two are harvested from solar and wind generators respectively. The energy is stored in liquid form in a canister-like object. The third is either harvested by a fusion generator or by a mineral mining installation set to mine radioactive mineral. Generally, using a fusion generator is much more efficient for harvesting radioactives.

Also, remember that the actual number of "units" of energy you have is affected by the PE (Potential Energy) rating of the energy you carry. The rule is, a PE rating of 500 or less on a give power resource equals exactly one unit of power. Anything about 500 and the amount of power you can get out of a resource is increased.

For example If you have 1000 units of radioactive material with exactly 500 PE, you have 1000 units of power. If you have 1000 units of radioactive material with only 250 PE, you still have exactly 1000 units of power, as you can't go below one unit of power per unit of resource. If, however, you have 1000 units of radioactive material with 750 PE, you have 1500 units of power!

The formula works like this: For anything with a PE over 500, take that PE rating, divide it by 500, then multiply the result by the amount of the resource you have to figure out how much power you have.

If PE is greater than 500- Formula: P = R * (PE/500) Where P=Amount of power and R=Amount of resource.

If PE is 500 or lower- Formula: P=R

Examples: 1000 units of PE 750 radioactive: 1000 * (750/500)=1500 3200 units of PE 920 solar power: 3200 * (920/500)=5888 7200 units of PE 114 wind power: 7200. PE is low, but you can't have fewer units of power than you do units of resource.