My idea : Steam. As in, heating up water enough to produce steam. - Steam is produced by excessive heating of an object which is in contact with water which has the ability to sufficiently conduct the heat into the source of water. - Doing so creates steam. - Steam which is not contained can just slowly disperse and as it cools turns into small droplets of water which make their way back into the environment. - Steam could condense on glass windows and walls forming water droplets on those surfaces. Once there is enough water vapour they fall as a small amount of water. - Steam could be contained creating air pressure which could be used to open and close pneumatic devices such as doors, windows, gates and perhaps even turrets which blast scolding air out. Enough to kill small creatures and enough to deter later creatures. - Because steam could take a while to generate this would mean devices relying on steam would have to wait for their current steam source to build up sufficient pressure in order for them to be operate-able again. - Perhaps different devices require varying levels of steam pressure. - Multiple , conjoined pressurised containers could be used to allow steam powered devices to be used concurrently without risk of loss of function when steam is not being produced. - Different sources of heat generation could still be used to make steam. E.g. Burning wood in a purpose made generator to make steam. Using coal or other gasses. Solar power to generate heat. Perhaps planets which are very close to the sun could make sure of the extreme heat to make vast amounts of steam. This doesn't necessarily have to be handled using physics. Such as the water physics that have been demonstrated but rather this could be handled with just animations etc making this suggestion less taxing on the system. Thanks for taking your time time to check this out. I am sure someone might have suggested this already but I was not able to find it using the search or even by the bit of time I spent searching by hand. I think this suggestion would be worth including but obviously not necessary. if it is not implemented then I would at least like to know if this could eventually be added as a mod. Because if this could possibly be a mod then I plan to make this perhaps with some help of others.
Thanks for submitting a new suggestion! Please remember to give your opinion on this suggestion by voting on our suggestions page.
Sounds like a good idea. As a power source it makes alot of sense. You add water as a fuel source to some sort of machine and it converts it into steam and then that steam could be used to power items. The only problem I can see with this is how to implement it without adding in new physics for gasses? Your ideas are good but I can't see how to implement it well without giving it physics too...
Yep, it's a great idea and I'd love to see it in the game but I have a feeling that it would be a lot of work for the devs. Maybe it's something that they could add to the game at a later date though as I think it would add a lot more content!
WEll they currently have water with pressure so having a gas from my perspective doesn't seem like a huge leap. I have done games design, programming and such but overall I have no idea how they have gone about water and pressure. But it doesn't seem like something that would be impossible. it could always have nothing to do with physics and just be handled another way. Put in Coal + water = So much steam-. Steam flows through pipes into machines and the machines require a certain amount of steam to function. etc. Also don't forget. The majority of power generation we still use in our modern world is steam powered. Power stations are steam power generation on a huge level. The difference is that we take that steam and convert it into electricity instead of making use of steam directly. I just feel that having steam in the game in a more extended form might be interesting.
It could just be like a haze with a liquid property but inverted, unless the gas is less dense than the air. About steam, I could imagine gigantic nuclear reactors producing steam in the sky! The steam should fade into the air, so it doesn't lag a computer.
This is a great idea! I like the idea of being able to make steam-based power plants (large generators that work while directly in steam). Could be an cheaper, larger, sustainable generator! UPVOTED!
Exactly. Steam covers a huge range of technological ages from primative stuff. A bowl of water over a fire. Right up to large scale industrial plants using uranium and other weird fuels to generate heat which turns water into steam to create electricity. Either way it is useful. Turn steam into electricity or just use steam outright! One thing I just thought of would be using steam in small grenades. Steam Grenades. High pressure grenades cause a nice amount of damage while low pressure steam grenades act as alternative smoke bombs. Imagine filling a room with steam to obscure your enemies view. Also I would't mind having a sauna!
The real reason to add somthing like this , IMO, would be full physic system under it. This includes at least gas physics and advanced temperature systems. Unlikely to be included before release, sadly. On the otherside, such devices (as OP stated - without physics, just the look of steam devices) could add aesthetics to , for example, Glitch architecture and gear.
I realise that this suggestion isn't necessary so even if it was going to be added it would most likely come later. Extending the physics system would not be too difficult I imagine as I did some work with physics programming with my uni mates so altering it to work with steam and pressure isn't a huge leap from water and pressure.
I would definitely enjoy setting up large steam power plants. Maybe used to provide power to various stations on planets. Power could be required to power computers your space ship. This could also be integrated into the various ship construction ideas. Imagine constructing a space station with a large engine to explore your universe, Just because you can.
I would also be interested to see how steam and pressure would work on planets with varying temperatures, atmospheres and gravity.
